The House of Hades
by Austin and Ally Go 1 Direction
Summary: Percy's twin sister Lauren (Also Nico Di Angelo's girlfriend) has to step up and take charge of the quest when her brother and her best friend Annabeth fall into Tartarus. My spin on House of Hades, with an extra character. If you've always wanted to incorporate yourself into these books, then you'll want to give this a try! Please! T just to be safe ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Lauren**

Lauren was shattered.

Broken, unfixable. Percy and Annabeth were gone. But for real this time. She hadn't even fully healed from when Hera stole Percy the first time, and now there was no way that she would ever be able to find all those pieces again.

And there was only one thing that was preventing her from giving up.

And that was her broken boyfriend Nico.

She wanted to hate him. When she had come out of her weird coma and learned that Percy had been missing for four months, it had been unbearable. The only thing that kept her going was Nico's promises of searching for Percy. And then she had gone to Camp Jupiter and learned that they had been nothing but lies.

And that Nico had been lying to everyone.

It still left a bitter taste in her mouth, and the weight on her neckalce from Nico's skull ring got icy and heavy really fast. She hated all her uncertainty. She tried to throw the ring away once she learned of Nico's betrayal. But she couldn't.

He had given it to her about two weeks after she had came out of the coma. She had had a rough day, so after lights out he had shadow traveled to her cabin to hold her while she cried. And as he held her he had given her his ring that he always wore.

As the others talked about what to do, she tried not to glare at Nico. She knew he was weak, and even though every ounce of her brain wanted to drown him, part of her heart still belonged to him, and she was feeling sympathetic.

But not sympathetic enough that she had been ready to have a one on one discussion with the twerp. Jason had cleared everyone out of the room in seconds. Leaving her and Nico to, 'get even' as Leo had put it. Apparently if they were going to save the world, they couldn't have any differences.

She stared at Nico as he slouched in his chair, staring at the ground. The contrast between his hair and skin was so different now, that it was heartbreaking. But she steeled herself over. She wasn't going to let her feelings get in the way.

"Lauren," Nico sighed, trying to get the ball rolling. He finally raised his eyes to hers. Exactly how she remembered them, only now they seemed cracked. She bit her lip, willing herself not to run to his side and burst into tears.

In all honesty, she had _missed _him when he was gone. Even though the entire time she knew the truth about what he had been hiding, she had missed him. _Alot. _But it still hurt.

"Please don't Nico," She lowered her eyes to the ground. When she looked into his it was like the big dark eyes were searching her soul. Somethimes she wondered if he could see how she was going to die.

"I shouldn't have lied to you. It was wrong," he muttered. _That _was the under statement of the year.

"And what," her voice quavered ever so slightly, "Did you expect to accomplish?"

He fidgeted under her glare. She had always been self-conscious of her vivid sea green eyes, much unlike Percy, but she could be quite intimidating when she decided to glare.

For a moment he didn't answer, and that just made her madder. If there was one thing that she hated more than being lied to, it was when it was done unnecessarily. His response was so quiet, she almost missed it.

"I wanted you to be happy."

Her snappy response caught on her tongue. For a second she melted inside, a warm gooey feeling crept down her insides. But it froze again as she reminded herself of all the pain those lies created. Maybe momentary happiness, but long term detrimental affects.

She chose her words carefully. "You know I hate lying."

He hung his head, his dark hair shrouding his face. "I know," he muttered unhappily. He looked worn, but she wasn't about to let this go.

"Then why would you do something you know I hate?"

"Because, because... I don't know. You seemed so happy."

That made her choke. He thought she had been happy? Some boyfriend. If anything the promises made life not seem so bleak, but she definitely wasn't happy. It was like he hadn't connected with her at all.

A new sensation moved down her gut. It was the same feeling she got everytime Clarisse taunted her and Percy. The same feeling that they had first felt when they were twelve, sitting in front of a biker in a diner in Denver. The biker had been Ares. And the feeling had been pure anger.

"You thought your lies made me happy?" She spat venemously at Nico. He seemed to flinch with her sudden change in demeanor. "Who do you think you are that you can toy with peoples emotions like that Nico?"

He paled further. She didn't notice. Her sudden fury at his incompetence was blinding everything out. It was a stupid idea for Jason to leave her alone with Nico when she was in this state. She and Percy tried to avoid it, especially since he was prone to random bursts of anger. She was definitely going to get even with Nico.

"It was wrong, I know - "

"You heartless jerk!" She shouted, which made him shut-up. She knew she had hit a sour point with him. "Even when you know something's wrong you still do it! I can't believe you. And then you come crawling back for forgiveness. When I don't have my brother to help me! When I, when... Percy..."

For a second she stuttered to a stop as the cold reality of her brother's horrible ending came back to her. She swallowed and took a deep breath. Her voice was deadly calm when she continued.

"I loved you Nico," He winced when she used the past tense, and then her voice got even quieter, "And I thought maybe you loved me too. But maybe everyone was right," She raised her eyes to his, holding his broken stare with her own. He was about to cry, but she didn't care.

"You're a son of Hades. You _can't _feel anything. And I was foolish to think you could."

She turned so that he wouldn't see the tear drop offer her cheek. She had to get out of here, or else she would do something stupid, like cause a water explosion. She reached for the door handle.

"Lauren please," His voice came out in a thick whisper. She closed her eyes to push away all her memories with him. The time he had finally gotten the nerve to ask her out with all their friends help. How he held her till the early hours of the day when she needed someone to talk to, and of the first time she had ever felt his gentle lips press against hers.

She took a deep breath, she needed to say goodbye to everything. Then she turned the handle and said, "You're no better than your father."

And then she fled down the hall.

**Jason**

Jason blamed himself for everything.

If only he had flown down, maybe he could have pulled Percy and Annabeth to safety. If only he had been a little quicker... Well, then they'd be in a completely different situation at the moment.

And to make matters worst, the creepy goth looking kid Nico, was really aggravating Lauren. She was lost, he could tell that from the look in her eyes, and the fact that she had to deal with _him _as her boyfriend, well, he voted for tossing Nico off the edge of the ship before they sailed to Greece.

And it wasn't just for the fact that he completely lied to Lauren. But Jason remembered Nico from Camp Jupiter. He had been the 'off' kid, always coming and going. He never could understand how he could be related to Hazel. They were completely the opposite.

While she was warm, friendly, and nice to everyone, Nico gave off a feeling that reaked death. Jason knew it wasn't the kid's fault - his father was Hades for crying out loud - but it still didn't make Jason like him any more.

Piper walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He could feel the tension leave his shoulders.

"How you holding up?" He asked, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Ok, I guess. I managed to charmspeak Leo to a calmer state. He's still ranting about the fortune cookie, but now he seems more... stable," She sighed. "Honestly though, it's a hard blow having Percy and Annabeth gone."

At one time Jason might have become jealous at this simple statement, but now he knew what she meant. Percy and Annabeth had held everyone together. And now they were gone, just like that.

"Did you talk to Lauren?" He really was worried about her. The first day he had met her, she was in a strange coma, muttering in Ancient Greek. The only reason Chiron allowed him to see her in the Big House, was because it was _his _name that she had been muttering.

And when she had finally woken up a couple months ago, the first thing that happened was that she had blew up the lake. He could only imagine how powerful a demigod she could be if she hadn't been bogged down with all this junk that had happened to her since he had met her. He shivered at the thought of how scary she and Percy could be when they were together.

"I don't think she was to pleased with you leaving her alone to talk with Nico," Piper said slowly, watching for Jason's reaction. He tensed a bit. He knew she'd hate him for it, but those two had to sort some stuff out.

"Anyways, I saw her run to her cabin a few minutes ago."

Jason sighed. "And Death Boy?"

"Hazel went in there. I think she's scolding him, which is kind of funny, cause you'd think she'd agree with whatever her brother says, but she's a good friend for Lauren."

"I gotta go do check up," Jason reluctantly pulled away from Piper's arms. He planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "Catch up with you later?"

"Done," She smiled brilliantly as Jason headed down the halls. Leo was in the engine room as usual, tinkering with that weird sphere thing he had found, muttering about fortune cookies. Hedge was eating tin cans and shouting at one of the tv's. Jason sighed. At least some things were still normal.

Piper was right, Hazel was sitting beside Nico in the lounge room, and the look on her face wan't anywhere close to happy. Jason felt no sympathy for the kid. He deserved it, and he was just lucky it wasn't Jason in there talking to him.

He sighed when he checked Frank's cabin. The poor kid was sitting there with his head in his hands. Jason knocked quietly on the door frame. Frank nearly jumped out of his skin, but when he saw it was Jason he relaxed. A little.

"Hey man, what's up?" Jason asked. For such a big intimidating kid, he wasn't afraid to cry freely.

"Hey Jason," Frank muttered dejectedly.

"Yo man, you have to know that it wasn't you fault. We all can't sit here blaming eachother if we're going to save Percy and Annabeth."

Frank sniffled again, but nodded. He stood up and grabbed his bow and arrow. "I'm gonna head up deck and see if any suspiscious activity is going on."

Jason nodded. That would be pointless, they had created a giant hole in a parking lot rith smackdab in the middle of Rome. Of course suspiscious activity was goin on, but it was good for Frank to occupy himself.

"Thanks man," Jason gave him a kind smile before heading off. He tried not to feel sad as he walked past to newly empty cabins - Percy and Annabeth's. He slowed near the end one. He knocked softly on the closed door.

"Come in," He could hear the tightness in Lauren's voice. He turned the handle slowly, opening the door, but staying in the door frame. Lauren obviously wasn't doing well, but when she saw him she gave him a tight lipped smile.

Her eyes always intimidated him. Whenever he looked at them, he could never tell if they were Percy's or her's. But they were twins, so he guessed it made sense. They fragmented between different colours of sea green and blue, like he was looking into an enerald ocean, always shifting due to the waves.

Except now her eyes were broken. Hera had told him that Lauren had been in the coma when Hera had Percy, because the two of them were so closely bonded, if she hadn't done that, Lauren would have died, which in turn would have killed Percy.

Anyways, the point was that Lauren and Percy were dead without eachother, which made this hard for Lauren. Jason couldn't help but sigh. He really needed her to step up and take charge, but she was so lost she couldn't.

"You ok?" He asked stupidly. For a second her green eyes focused with a surprising intensity that made Jason take a step back.

"Remind me to kill you after we complete this quest," she smiled for a moment before her eyes went back to the lost look.

"Ok. Just checking on you."

"Hmn? What?" She looked up confused. Jason just sighed and shut the door. Everything was so messed up. He passes the Athena Parthenos on his way up deck, and he couldn't help but scowl at it. Never could Jason have imagined a statue could be the cause of so much trouble.

It was sunny as he made his way onto the deck. Frank was up on the mast, playing with the chinese handcuffs. The air was warm, carrying the scent of freshly baked bread. It also carried the scent of smoke, catastrophic results from the half-bloods game of war with the giants.

Jason sighed. It was going to take time for things to go back to normal, for mortals and half-bloods alike.

He could only hope it wouldn't take too long.


	2. Chapter 2

**Nico**

Everytime Nico closed his eyes he found himself back in the dark pit of Tartarus. Monsters in forms that would drive a mortal insane flew before his eyes. He sighed. He was never going to go to sleep _ever _again.

And it didn't help that Lauren's words kept infiltrating his mind either. He really did care. He was just really bad at portraying his emotions. But, the dad dig was low, even for her. She was the one person who knew how much he didn't want t be like his father. But he supposed that she had earned a right.

Truth was, even though the memories of Tartarus haunted him, even though what Gaea told him sent chills down his spine, the thing that he was most scared of was that Lauren would never forgive him.

He didn't care if she broke up with him._ He _wished that he could break up with him. But he loved her, and if she never forgave him, well, it would be worse than being comdemned to the fields of punishment. And that was saying alot.

Hazel sat beside him, ranting about something that he ignored. When she finally paused for breath she asked, "Are you even listening to me Nico?"

Her tone brought him away from his worries. It was the tone Bianca used to use when Nico was playing with his mythomagic game instead of listening to her.

"Hmn?"

Hazel sighed. "You have to make this right with Lauren, Nico."

"I tried," he whined. And he really had. Nico knew that he was one of the freakiest, creepiest, and definitely one of the most avoided demigods born since his brother Hitler. Yes, _the _Hitler. Most people found him strange, and tried to stay as far away as possible, and he did have anger issues.

Yet, never in a million years would he ever hurt Lauren on purpose. She was one of a very small few who actually was Nico's friend. Who understood him, and looked out for him. And she was definitely the _only _person he looked out for since Bianca died.

If anyone so as much made her frown, Nico flipped at them. He guessed he did play the over-protective boyfriend card a little bit to often, but he couldn't help it. Between Nico and Percy, Lauren was pretty safe. She hardly ever needed them though. Well, at least before the prophecy.

Nico ached everytime he saw her eyes once she woke up from that coma. It was like she couldn't focus. The time with Percy seemed to have fixed it, but with him _and _Annabeth gone now, along with Nico, who'd win worst boyfriend of the year award if he had the chance, she was even more broken.

Nico let a sigh roll of his lips. He was really weak from his time in Tartartus, and it hadn't helped that he had spent eight days in a jar without oxygen right after. But he had to get her forgivness. Even if he had to beg.

He stood up shakily on his feet, leaning most of his weight on his obsidian black sword. Hazel watched him.

"Where's her cabin?"

Hazel smiled for the first time since seeing her brother. "Beside Percy's. End of the hall."

As she stood up to leave, she looked at her nrother one last time. "Do the right thing Nico," She whispered before disappearing. Sometime's Nico forgot that she wasn't a ghost in the underworld anymore.

He hobbled down the halls of the ship like an old man. Somewhere something was blowing up, because he could feel the occasional tremors. If Chiron hadn't given the Ok of the _Argo II, _there would have been no way that Nico would have come anywhere near this boat.

Leo had built it.

End of explanation.

That kid scared Nico, and Nico had seen some pretty scary stuff. It wasn't so much that he could spontaneously combust - that was just plain cool - but the kid was even more ADHD then Percy, and that was hard enough to believe to start with.

He passed the pretty Aphrodite kid Piper. She gave Nico a tight smile, but it was definitely forced. Everyone on this boat hated Nico except Hazel, and that was just because she was his Roman half-sister, and he had brought her back from the dead. She kind of owed him.

And hopefully, in a few minutes, one less person will hate him.

He could smell the cabin before he saw the door. It was the scent of a warm ocean breeze, the kind that you would smell when you walked along the beach. It was a surprisingly pleasant smell, for a kid of Hades at least. All of them tried to avoid the ocean at all possible cost. Bad things tended to happen there.

But for Nico, that smell always reminded him of his most favourite person in the entire world. The one person who loved him for who he was, who could always see past the death look.

It was the scent of the daughter of Poseidon. It was like Lauren's permanent perfume.

Automatically he smiled. People always said it was weird that two kids of the Big Three got together, it had never happened, especially with a kid of Hades and Poseidon. But it had happened, and Nico had no regrets.

He just hoped Lauren had none either.

In fact, Nico had been pretty surprised that Percy hadn't strangled Nico on sight. No doubt he wasn't only mad about Nico lying to him, but also Nico lying to Lauren. If there was one person that Percy cared about more than his girlfriend Annabeth, it was his twin sister Lauren.

Nico paused in the door frame, for a moment loosing his resolve. He took a breath. He had to do this, because if he didn't, he'd be as broken as Lauren. He at least had to try and make things right with her.

He rapped on the door with his pale bony knuckles.

For a moment she didn't answer. Then he heard the voice that had been one of the few things that helped him keep his sanity while in Tartarus. "Come in."

He opened the door and slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. This was personal, and the last thing he needed was Mr. Perfect (Jason) to over hear. He would completely take Lauren's side.

His heart did a fluttery thing as he laid eyes on her. It was stupid, he had tried to make it stop, but it happened every time he saw her. Ever since they first met. He wasn't sure if it was the long black-brown hair, her perfect features, piercing green eyes, or the fact that she was barely 5'4". He was in love.

When she first saw him, his heart broke as her eyes seemed to look right through him. She wouldn't be in this state if it wasn't for him. He hesitated as her words rebounded in his skull.

_Your no better than your father._

Well, this was his chance to prove her wrong. And her being Lauren, he didn't get many opportunities to do it.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked in a pleading voice. Her eyes seemed to focus on him for the first time.

"Seeing as how you're not planning on leaving till you say your piece, it doesn't seem like I have much choice," She smirks with a hint of her old sass. Nico grinned inwardly. One of the reasons he loved her was that she totally could take care of herself.

He sighed, the speech he had thought of completely blanking from memory. Instead he'd have to say what was in his heart. (Yes kid's of Hades _do _have a heart, in case you didn't think so.)

"I don't blame you for hating me. And I certainly won't hate you if you don't even want to be my friend when all this is over. I just... you have always been my best friend. Other than Bianca, you're the only one who's taken the time to understand me. And for that I will always love you, no matter your feelings towards me.

"What I did was wrong. I shouldn't have lied to you. I'm horribly ashamed of it, and it's my biggest regret. And you don't even have to like me one bit. But _please _can you forgive me? The only thing that kept me going through Tartarus was the thought that you'd discover how full of crap I am, and that if I died with you thinking that, it would be worst than being doomed to the fields of punishment."

Nico paused, realising he had been rambling. He took in a shaky breath, leaving heavily on the sword. The entire time he had talked he had kept his eyes trained on the floor boards, because he knew if he looked into those brilliant green eyes, that he would crumble. Yet for the first time since he started talking, he looked up and made eye contact.

"It's just... I need you to forgive me because I love you."

For a moment she just stared at Nico, her sea green eyes filling with tears. Then in another moment he blinked, and her arms werearound his neck, and she was hugging him.

"I love you to," she whispered into his hair, and he could feel the tears making their way down his cheeks. She pulled away.

"It's going to take me a while to completely forgive you. What you did cut deep, but I was a little harsh about the things I said earlier, and I'm sorry. Thing is, no matter how much I want to hate you, I'll always end up loving you," She smiled at him before resting her head against his neck.

She was one of the few people short enough to actually do this.

He squeezed her shoulders. He was tired, but never in his life had Nico felt happier. Lauren still loved him.

Maybe the world wasn't going to end after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hazel**

"Hey Frank," Hazel somewhat sighed as she walked above deck. Aside from the fact that Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus, and that the air in Rome was filled with smoke from their earlier battle, it was a beautiful afternoon.

The sun was making a point of burning thrugh the haze, and the water was a brilliant azure colour. Despite the smell of rubble, Hazel could pick out the smell of bread.

Her wonderful boyfriend looked down the mast, before giving a half-hearted wave.

"Hey Hazel," He said gloomily, leaning out of the bucket, resting his chin on his arms. He looked really depressed. Even more so than when he found out he had to burn his own stick of life to free (ironically) Death.

Hazel leaned against the opposite mast, so she could see Frank easily. He was such a big clutz, but she absolutely loved him. "Patrol?"

Frank nodded, and Hazel couldn't help but think back to before all of this had happened. Before she and Frank were dating, back to the time when they were just friends. They used to take patrol together all the time. And then Percy had stumbled down the highway carrying a bag lady in his arms.

"How you doing?" Hazel tried to extend conversation, trying to distract Frank's thoughts.

"Ok, I guess. Better than some," He replied, and she knew who he was hinting at. Thing was, Frank was absolutely terrified of Lauren. Hazel knew that was kind of off, because Frank was so protective of her twin Percy, but sometimes things just worked out that way.

And then there was Nico. Frank hadn't liked Nico from the start. Hazel didn't even have to ask him, she could just tell. He thought that Nico was a creep, and in all honesty, most of the time Nico scared Hazel too.

He always had this look to him that seemed to say, _Stay away, or I'll send you to my dad the hard way. _Not exactly a great way to make friends. The only time she had seen a softer side to him, was when he slipped up and accidently mentioned Lauren.

Everything was messed up, and that was the understatement of the year. Hazel and Frank were now wary of Jason. He was still good old Jason on the outside, but something was definitely different. Something greek.

His girlfriend was sweet, but completely un-Roman. Then there was Leo. Hazel had personal problems with him herself, and Frank and Leo weren't exactly buddy buddy. Annabeth, the Greek Reyna, was now gone, along with one of the few people that kept everyone together, Percy Jackson.

With Lauren out of it, and Nico exhausted, they didn't exactly make the definition of the Half-bloods in the Great Prophecy. They were all lucky if none of them went insane by the end of the trip, which unfortunately wasn't anywhere near completion.

Hazel closed her eyes, blocking everything out. Unlike Nico, she couldn't tell when someone died, but she was confident Percy and Annabeth were still alive. In the week it had taken them to get to Rome, she had seen the two in action enough. Nothing would surprise those two.

She went back into the hull, Frank paying no attention to her, off in some dream world. She climbed down the creaky steps, down to the engine room. It was kind of dark down here, sudden bursts of light going off every few seconds.

As she peeked through the door way, she watched as Leo was catching his hand on fire, then holding it up to those strange spheres that he had rescued. Nothing happened and he cursed loudly in what she could only assume was spanish.

"Any progress?" She walked in to see him jump back in surprise. It was obvious it was her, but she couldn't blame him. Everyone's nerves were tight today.

"Nah, trying to figure out a genius's brain takes an even bigger genius for the job," He smirked. "Which I am. But it still takes time."

Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Ok Mr. Genius, what have you figured out so far then?"

That twitchy smile found it's way onto Leo's face. "Check it out," Leo muttered as he turned some sections on the small orb in front of him. Hazel watched in fascination at th way his fingers eemed at ease with the machine.

When she had first come, _back, _she had a hard enough time figuring out how to work a cell phone, and here Leo was, playing with a two thousand year old machine, no problem.

Suddenly a light flashed out of the orb. A brilliant white light, that hurt Hazel's eyes, and made her throw her arm up for protection. As she got used to the luminescence, she looked over to see Leo handing her a pair of goofy black goggles. She slid them around her head, feeling like a mad scientist.

"So you figured out how to turn it into a flashlight," She couldn't help but smirk as she stared at the bright circle of light, a foot in diameter.

"Not just any flash light," Leo smiled as he stepped forward. "Check this."

Leo raised his hand slowly to the light. Hazel gasped as his hand disappeared. Where the light stopped touching his skin, she could still see his arm. He pulled it back slowly. Then the orb shuddered and turned off.

Hazel pulled the goggles off, handing them to Leo. "That is cool. So where ever the light hits you, you turn invisible?"

"Not exactly. See, I haven't been able to prove anything yet, but I think you don't just disappear, but actually travel."

"Like teleport?"

"Kinda, but not really. More like a really toned down version of how the gods travel. I just haven't figured out how to make the ring of light big enough to fit you whole body through."

Hazel was quiet for a moment. "Well then, where does it go to?"

"No idea, but I'll deal with it later," Leo waved his hand absentmindedly, causing Hazel to laugh at his carefree attitude. She turned to go, her hand on the door handle when he spoke up again.

"Can I ask you something?"

She turned back to Leo, who was now staring at her. She nodded, knowing where this was going.

"No offense or anything, but are you sure we can trust your brother? And please don't freak out, it's an honest question."

She sighed, slumping against the door.

"Leo," She bit her lip, "That's a question everyone needs to answer for themselves. Me personally? Yes, I do trust Nico. And not just because he's my brother, but also because he's a good kid. He wouldn't side with Gaea."

"I know. I trust your opinion. It's just, he's so..."

"Scary?"

He fidgeted. "Sorry."

"It's fine Leo. I get it," She muttered before turning to leave. Everyone thought that Nico was so scary, and in reality it was. It simply gave a horrible twist in her stomach everytime someone said that. Because she was a daughter of the underworld too.

Did people think she was that scary?

**Percy**

He grunted. A sound that echoed into the blackness. Black that reached everywhere. Black that tried to drown him. Percy tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. Where was he? He couldn't remember anything. The blackness seemed to quell his memories.

His stiff arms were wrapped around something, but he couldn't figure out what. Breathing was hard. And he was almost sure the thing he was holding was breathing too.

Moving was out of the question, and even though he couldn't remember anything, something felt wrong. An emptiness inside him, something missing. He almost grasped onto the memory, before it oozed it's way back into the blackness that was surrounding him.

Where was he?

_Go back to sleep, tiny hero, _a voice in the back of his head lulled, _You're time is almost up._

Confused, Percy unbeknowingly obeyed the voice of Gaea.

**Ok, this is my first author note, and right off the bat I'd like to say sorry for this horrible chapter. Hazel's perspective is alot harder for me to write than I thought. And just so you know, in the future Percy's POV will be a whole chapter, but I just thought this would be a good way to ease into that mess.**

**First, I'd like to say a BIG thank you to the people who reviewed me, I didn't think I'd get any.**

**Second, I was asked to write the back story for Lauren, but I thought it might be easier to tell you in this.**

**Lauren is Percy's twin sister, just in case you didn't get that. Annabeth is also her best friend. Nico had asked her out a month after Percy had asked Annabeth out, mostly with a lot of prompting froom Percy, trying to convince Nico that Lauren was head over heels for him.**

**When Perccy was taken by Hera, Lauren had sort of fallen into a coma, because them being demigod twins, their connection is a lot stronger. When she was in the coma, she was pretty much stuck in Hera's presencse, though she can't remember this when she wakes up (about the time Hera had sent Percy to the Wolf house) When she was with Hera, she spoke Ancient Greek, pretty much saying what was happening, though no one could seem to understand her.**

**When she had woke up, Nico had cared for her, and she made him promise that If he found Percy, He would tell her. Which is also why she was so mad when she had to find out by the Romans that Nico had lied to her.**

**That's why she's kind of mad at him, but over all she really does love him, even though Chiron warned them no to date, because thm both being children of the Big Three, it couldn't happen. something that will be explained in future chapters.**

**Anyways, hope that clears things up! **

**Big Thanks to **

**Sokkarocks - You made my day.**

**Mosgem - Your ideas were really appreciated.**

**Thanks For everything! Hope you enjoy :) I'll update ASAP. I promise!**


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY! Sorry it took me so long to update, lot's of homework. Anyways, I know I only have 6 reviews, but to me those six reviews are the world! Thank you sooooooooooo much guys! I hope you like this chapter, lot's of stuff goes on between Lauren and Nico (Laurico?) And it explains everyones connections a bit more. PLEASE REVIEW! ENJOY!**

**Lauren**

The dream was more of a memory.

It was a familiar place, even though Lauren couldn't place it. Then again, she had been out of it for the past six months. Even today, after she and Nico smoothed things out, the rest of the day passed as a blur. She had done some patrol, then went to bed early.

Yet, she had definitely been to this place before. Everything seemed fake, and white. Then it clicked. This was were she had been stuck while she had been in the coma. And sure enough, as she focused on the white, a face formed.

Her Royal Pain in the Butt, Highness herself.

Hera.

She scowled as soon as she could make out the face. Before all this, Hera had simply been Lauren's least favourite goddess. Simply because Hera hated her, Percy, and Annabeth with a fiery passion. (Long story, don't ask.)

But then Hera had personally messed up her and Percy's somewhat normal lives, right after they had saved her godly butt.

Not exactly the thanks they had been looking for.

Hera seemed to notice Lauren's anger, the corners of her ageless mouth forming a frown. When she talked it was like a mother scolding a child.

"You don't see the big picture, do you?"

A mirthless laugh bubbled up Lauren's throat. "Picture? Sorry, My life's a bit messed to be worrying about my future at the moment."

Hera sighed. "And her I thought you were the sensible twin. Anyways, I've brought you here, because I need to warn you. As you now my husband's being an idiot, so I have to use the empathy link I created in you, when you were in the coma."

An icy finger crawled down her back. "Are you saying that I'm back in a coma?"

Hera shook her head. "No, not this time. Not convenient."

Lauren snorted. "Thanks for your concern." Hera's eyes narrow.

"For the sake of the situation, I won't have my husband zap you for your lack of humility," She snobbed. Lauren rolls her eyes.

"Then please, tell me what situation I have to thank for this opportunity."

"Exactly what you were ranting about. Your furutre."

Lauren scrunched up her eyebrows, a bad habit. "My future? You mean the one that's getting closer to the underworld, everyday I'm on this stupid quest?" Then Hera did something unexpected. She laughed.

"Actually, your future is so twisted up with the underworld, that's what scares us gods."

"Wait," Lauren holds up her hand in disbelief, "You telling me the gods are scared that I'm going to die? Since when did any of you ever care what happened to me and Percy, besides our dad, let alone get sentimental about our death?"

"Since it can over power the gods themselves."

Lauren got silent at that. What was Hera rambling about now? As though reading her mind, Hera answered.

"It's not, the underworld itself, but the child of the underworld."

"Nico?" Lauren scrunched up her brow, then released it when she realized what she was doing.

"Yes. It's interesting actually. Most children of the Big Three hate eachother, mostly because their elements are so different. And yet, despite all that, You and Percy managed to befriend, _Thalia," _(Hera spat her name out venemously) "And Hades child, Nico. And even after everything we've put you two through, you still just admitted to still loving eachother, less that twelve hours ago."

This time Lauren couldn't stop her brow from scrunching. "Since when did you get so desperate as to follow my love life? Like maybe Aphrodite, but I expected more from you at least!"

Hera rolled her eyes. "Again, your not seeing the big picture. Why are you so naive?"

Lauren clenched her fists with anger. She could feel a familiar tug in her gut, but thankfully there was no water in her dream world. "What?" She couldn't help but burst, "Will we not be a family perfect enough for your picture?"

Even as she said it, she couldn't help but feel the heat rush to her cheeks. Like, she really did love Nico. And saying that they _were _going to have a family some day, kind of made things feel permanent.

"It's not that your family won't be perfect," Hera's voice is surprisingly quiet. "Can you remember though, what's happened everytime a generation has offspring?"

"Um, they all got immortality? And were extremely evil?"

Hera glared. "No. The children, all over took the old generation."

Lauren's anger drained, replaced with fear at what Hera was going to say. A small off task part of her brain (Yes, she was unfortunately just as ADHD as her brother) wondered if she was bipolar.

"What are you talking about?" Lauren stuttered, "Those children are all immortal. Wouldn't it make more sense if kids like my half-brother Triton to take over?"

"Like I said, naive. This is about you and Nico. Two half-bloods who weren't supposed to be a part of this prophecy, and yet here you are, changing the outcome together. Naive."

The anger rushed back again. (As she thought, bipolar.) "I'm not naive, just because I can't speak some gods mumbo-jumbo."

"The Ancient Prophecy isn't mumbo-jumbo."

Lauren wanted nothing better than to wake up at that moment. To get wrapped in Nico's comforting arms, maybe with Percy and Annabeth hugging on the couch beside them. Something comforting, at least.

"What's the Ancient Prophecy," She could help but have her voice crack. Prophecies were bad on their own. Great Prophecies (Which the last two involved her and Percy. Three thousand years, and they get picked to be in two of the worst ones ever? Really?) really sucked. Lauren wasn't sure she wanted to hear about Ancient Prophecies now.

"The Ancient Prophecy was formed with Gaea and Ouranos. Like a horrible curse, passed from generation to generation. It was quite simply really, the first prophecy ever muttered.

_Power__ rises, yet power falls_

_To family, is worst of all_

_From generation, to generation_

_Sending the old's, co__ndemnation_

_Repeating in an endless wake_

_The cycle can only once__, ever break"_

When Hera stopped muttering, Lauren felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want to find out if you can puke in a dream, but there was something old in the air now. Something _Ancient._

Lauren took a deep breath. "But as I said, Nico and I are only demi-gods. It's not like were immortal."

Hera raises an eyebrow, and gives her the _have-you-really-not-figured-it-out-yet _look, which gets under her skin. "But what about your child? What if it took only your godly half, and Nico's godly half, hmn? Correct my math, but that would equal one god. One _powerful _god. Perhaps even stronger that your parent combined."

Lauren's silent for a moment. Then it clicks. But not even the gods can be that heartless, can they? "What do you mean?"

Hera smiled slightly. "You know what I mean."

Then, with a ferocious tug in her gut, Lauren slipped out of the white world, and back into her own body. For a second, Hera's words and the Ancient prophecy lingered in her mind, but it was all swept away by her friend's blood-curdling screams.

Water was everywhere.

Flying, slopping, and most importantly, getting everything wet. Lauren stared with confusion. Then she realized she wasn't even on her bed anymore, but was being supported in the air by some water.

Did she do this?

Her concentration snapped, as the door to her room flew open. Water gushed in from outside, suggesting that she had water flying through the whole ship. She groaned inwardly. It was going to be fun explaining this one.

Her favourite person ran in, or more or less, swam in. All she needed to see was that mop of black hair and she smiled. Except he kind of frowned at her.

"Holy Hades Lauren! You okay? One moment, we're sleeping, the next, water's flying through the air!"

His outburst made whatever was holding the water in the air evaporate. Percy and Lauren didn't know that they could do that, and she would have thought it cool, had she not fallen five feet out of the air, and onto the floor.

"Ow."

Nico ran to her side, the weariness from his stay in Tartarus forgotten in her moment of pain. He was really sweet. But it still gave him no right to toy with her.

The others barrelled into the room, not shortly after Nico. The rule was pretty simply. Skeletons start to attack, you run to Nico. Machines - Leo. Storms - Jason. Water, Lauren or... well, now just Lauren.

"_Qu'est-ce qui s'est passe?" _Piper shouted in french. She tended to do that when she was scared. Jason glared at Lauren with stormy eyes. She didn't know why, but Jason didn't really seem to like her.

"Um, nightmare?" She kind of shrugged.

"NIGHTMARE?" Hedge barged into the room yelling, his furry hind-quarters damp, "SINCE WHEN DO YOU MAKE WATER FLY WHEN YOU HAVE A NIGHTMARE?"

Lauren swallowed. If only Percy were here, then he could take charge. Nico walked up and stepped protectivly in front of her.

"Lay off Coach. All you guys! Yeesh, give her some breathing room!"

Heat rushed to Lauren's cheeks when he said that. But when she stared at him, something twisted in her gut. She tried to convince herself that it was because she was still mad about him for lying to her, but deep down she knew that wasn't the case. Stupid Hera had to wreck everything.

"S'okay Nico," She put a hand on his shoulder, then she turned to the others who were staring at her. She was the only dry person on the entire ship. She carefully made eye contact with every single one of them, then uttered the one word she knew that they would understand.

"Hera."

That stopped the glares. Jason's at least. He'd also been unfortunate enough to be on the short end of one of Hera's 'projects'.

"What did she do this time?" Leo muttered. Oh yeah, Hera had played babysitter with him.

Slowly, Lauren told them about slipping back into the coma state, and her talk with Hera. Except she told them that Hera had simply been trying to tell Lauren that the gods were scared. There was no way that she was going to tell them about the prophecy, and her and Nico.

For a moment after, none of them really looked like they believed her, but could she blame them? Half the stuff she said, didn't make sense because she left half of it out.

"Anyways, point being, I really am sorry. Percy and I have never done that before. I can't promise that it won't happen again, because it might. Just, I'm really sorry," She sighed. Where was her annoying brother when she needed him? Or her best friend?

"Just try and control it next time," Frank muttered angrily, before stomping out of the room. Hazel gave Lauren an apologetic glance before hurrying after her boyfriend.

"Well, I'm going to go see if we have any non-soggy food left," Leo muttered, before perking up and saying, "I bet I could invent a machine to de-soggify food! I'd need..." But Lauren couldn't hear him as he started to walk off, Coach, Piper and Jason following him. Lauren sighed and sat down on her soaked bunk.

For an awkward second, Nico stood there, until he too sighed and sat down beside her. The bed made a strange squishy sound as he leaned over and wrapped her in a hug. She buried her face into his dark hair, tears silently running down her cheeks.

After a moment, he pulled away, but kept bothe hands on her shoulders. Lauren found a sudden interest in the sheets of her bed.

"Hey," His soft voice forced Lauren to meet his eyes. Shattered, but he was trying to be strong for her.

She gave him a soft smile. "Hey."

"So it's safe to assume that your dream had a little bit more to it, than what you told all of us?" His voice is reproving, but not prying. Lauren sighed and looked back at her wet bed. She closed her eyes and felt a gentle tug in her gut. When she opened them again, a spere of all the water in the boat was floating in front of them.

He waited patiently as she evaportated it. When she was done, they were both sitting on a dry bed. She wanted to procrastinate more, but knew she had to tell him.

"Hera told me some stuff, and maybe I didn't tell the others," She muttered. For a scared second she was afraid that he would flip at her, like how she had flipped at him when she learned that he had kept things from her. Then he sighed and hugged her again.

"That bad huh?"

She smiled. Nico knew her so well. Immediatley she felt like a jerk for flipping at him yesterday. Sure he had problems, but she did too. Every demigod had problems. And very few could get over them.

"Well..." He started kind of awkwardly, "Can you tell me?"

Lauren laughed, and she could have sworn his face lit up. If only they weren't two powerful demigods. If only they were normal kids who had met at the mall, and Nico had asked her out because he thought she was cute. If only.

"She told me some stuff about us and a prophecy," She told him what Hera had told her, word for word. When Lauren finished he was silent for a moment. Then he did something that she hadn't realized she had missed so much.

He pressed his lips to hers.

It wasn't a rough, desperate kiss, like the kiss he'd given her after she had woken up from the coma. It wasn't a timid kiss like their first one. It was a long, passionate, I love you more than anything kiss.

Here's the thing.

She hadn't kissed him since he had disappeared, about a week before they all left on this ridiculous quest. In reality, before she had made up with him, she thought she was never going to kiss him again. And that she'd be able to live with it.

Well, as he pressed his soft lips to hers, the truth was obvious.

There was no way in Hades that she would have survived another day without kissing him.

It was like a brick wall slamming into her, the realization of how much she actually missed him. How much she needed his stupidity, his comfort, his kiss. To her it was even better than being sent to the isles of the blest. That good.

An embarrassed cough made them spring apart. They both turned red faced to see a rather embarrassed Hazel.

"Er, sorry. Bad timing?"

Lauren laughed. "No prob. What's up?"

"Um, Leo just wanted me to tell you guys that we'll be able to head to Greece in the morning. He's managed to repair the damage to the ship, and Jason thinks the sooner we can leave the better."

"Thanks Hazel," Nico tells her, rubbing the back of his neck. He did that when he was embarrassed of nervous. Hazel took one last peek around the room before scurrying away. Lauren couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Nico tried to sound serious, but smiled instead.

"You honestly that embarrassed by me?" She feigned hurt. His smile widened as he wrapped his arms around her waist again.

"Never," He whispered, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. For a moment, everything was perfect.

And then Lauren slipped.

Now, it wasn't an actual slip, where she fell to the ground. It was more or less a mental change of state, which is why Percy and Lauren decided to call it a slip. It was really rare, but sometimes, they could slip into eachothers mind frame. Get a fractured glance of what the other one was doing.

One minute everything was perfect, her arms wrapped around Nico, a smile on her face. The next, she was some place dark. And by dark, it was _black. _Suddenly her arms weren't so much as wrapped up, (Nico, like everybody, was taller than her) but they were kind of slanted down.

Haze floated through her memory, but she could feel the steady breathing of the thing she was holding onto.

_Annabeth._

Percy and Annabeth were still alive, holding eachother in Tartarus. The only thing that scared Lauren though, was Percy's mind. Not only did his memories seem hazy, but it was like his mind was shrouded in a green veil. Gaea's green veil.

She could feel the ancient force slilp through her brothers brain, exposing his thoughts, (most of them pretty stupid in her own opinion) infiltrating his memories, luring him into sleep.

And then she slipped back.

"Lauren?" Nico pulled away worriedly as her entire body stiffened. One look into her eyes though, and he knew what had happened. Other than Chiron, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, and Grover, no body new about their slips.

"What was it?" His voice was tight. One time, when Percy was at the Roman camp still, Lauren had been in the pavilion eating dinner with everyone. Well, she was alone at her table, but everyone was there. Without warning, she couldn't breath.

It was worse than an elephant sitting on her chest.

The Apollo medics had rushed over, but couldn't find anything wrong. Before that, She and Percy had only had mind, and emotional slips. It had been there first physical slip, and it came as a shocker to everyone.

Ever since, Nico had kept a close eye on her. He hated when something harmed her, that wasn't even doing it to her technically, so he couldn't stop it. She hated physical slips as much as he did though.

She gulped, loosening her muscles. "Mind."

He let out a little breath of relief. "Where is he?"

She hugged him closer, burying her face in his hair, breathing in his familiar scent. "Somewhere black. With Annabeth, and Gaea's controlling him somehow. Not letting him wake up."

Nico's face was impassive as she told him. He simply nodded, but she couldn't get the worry out of her head.

"Nico," She choked, "What are we going to do? Especially about that prophecy?"

The roomed seemed to darken, if ever so slightly. He looked into her eyes. "We stay together. Prophecy or no prophecy, I'm not loosing you. We're going to find Percy and Annabeth, and if after we get this quest done, the four of us will run away if we have to. Away from the gods, the monsters, and the prophecies. We're all in this together though, and I don't care what how the gods feel about it."

A weight lifted off her heart. "Promise?"

"Promise," he whispered. She sighed and hugged him tighter. But he could feel the weariness start to set into both of them. "Hey, you should go back to bed. If using your powers on a normal scale can wipe you, your going to be even deader than me by morning."

She laughed lightly. "I don't know if I can go back to sleep Nico. Not after everything that's happened tonight. And we have to prepare ourselves for the journey to Greece tomorrow."

He looked at her with mock surprise. "How don't you know the secret to falling asleep when your having nightmares? You're a demigod, for crying outloud. Don't tell me you don't know?"

"What secret?" She looked at him with curiousity as a smile slid across his boyish features.

"The secret of hot chocolate!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the corridors. They passed their fellow friends bunks, snores echoing from them. Within minutes they both had steaming cups of the creamy rich beverage in their hands, as Nico led Lauren to the deck.

She followed confused, as he climbed on a little roof part that was at the back of the ship. The area right above where the lounge was she guessed. He took her to the perfect nook, and they settled in, gazing at the stars, while sipping the hot cocoa.

"This is amazing," Lauren marveled as she gazed at her favourite constellation. A girl with a bow and arrow that seemed to run across the stars.

"Here," He handed her his aviator jacket as she shivered a little. It was big on him, so she was pretty much drowning in it. So she opened it up, and he put one side around his own shoulders, so that they were snuggled inside.

"I love you Nico," She whispered one last time, before she fell back asleep.

"I love you too," He kissed her temple.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, okay. I know. I took forever to update, and it's a horrible filler chapter full of fluff. I'm sorry. I really am. I've just had alot going on recently, between school and piano, and personal life, things get busy. It also didn't help that I broke my promises to my best friends about my out of control Percy Jackson addiction, and read the entire series in four days. Then I spent the fifth day and the weekend reading HOO, all three books. Then I spent the entire time crying about Nico being horrible, and my friends were getting annoyed because I kept on ranting about how I hated him and wanted to kill him, to how hot he was. Ah, he sure is hot... Um, anyways, awkward *cough* You get the point. And I started a new fanfic to get my mind off Nico, ooh, I hate his guts the creep, But I made the mistake of doing it on another equally touchy subject - Austin Moon. Anyways, I'm going to stop blabbing about Nico, doesn't just his name make you swoon? - And get on with this horribly short chapter. Please don't hate me, it's just I hate Jason, so writing in his point of view is difficult. Maybe review? ;)**

**Jason**

Today was just not Jason's day.

First, he'd hardly gotten any sleep. Before he'd gone to bed, he'd gotten in a fight with the last person that he'd ever dream of fighting with.

Piper.

It didn't help that they argued about a touchy subject too. It just really irked him that his own girlfriend thought Percy and Lauren Jackson were better than him.

Of course she didn't actually say that to his face. But Jason could read between the lines well enough. _Why are you so hard on her? Maybe if Percy and Annabeth were still here, they'd be able to cheer her up._

Jason knew that Piper hadn't meant that. But the words still stung. Percy probably could do better than Jason. And Lauren probably would be better if Jason wasn't so cold with her.

Anyways, let's just say that argument hadn't put him into a fine sleeping spirit. So the fact that he got woken up at two in the morning to a flying splash of water hadn't helped either. And water had only meant one thing.

_Lauren._

Apparently she had had a 'nightmare' which consisted of their mutual enemy Hera. Jason softened as soon as he had heard this. He often had forgotten that Hera hadn't just messed with his own life.

But she was obviously keeping something from them, the flying water had kind of given that away. There was no doubt in Jason's mind now. Lauren was not to be messed with. He had heard the rumours that Percy had blown up a volcano, and that they had created a hurricane together, but there was no doubt in his mind now. They were two freakingly powerful demigods.

And by the time he had finally drifted back to sleep, Leo, the crazy guy, came rushing in, shouting some wack that Lauren and Nico were missing. Everyone searched high and low for them, and of course, Jason had found them.

Together. Sleeping on the roof.

What was with the Jacksons and sneaking off and falling asleep with their besties? Like, Coach had made the rules clear. _No _sleeping with eachother, or staying up past curfew. Yet both Jacksons had done it. Like there wasn't a care in the world.

He prodded Lauren's back carefully. He was pretty wary. The last thing he needed was for the ocean to explode.

She moved slightly, and Jason resorted to shaking Nico's shoulder with the same amount of care. The kid scared him even more than Lauren did if that was possible.

"Five more minutes Bianca," Nico muttered, rolling over and wrapping his arms around Lauren. Jason softened. Bianca was Nico's fleshly sister, whom he had lost when he was ten.

"Um, it's Jason. Could maybe the two of you get up and inform Coach that giants didn't make off with you during the night?" He cleared his throat awkwardly. Nico bolted upright, causing Lauren to finally wake up.

"Whoa. What are you talking about?" Nico rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his black silky bangs falling into his face.

Jason sighed impatiently. "Everyone's been looking for you two."

Lauren sat upright at this, for a moment confused at her surroundings. She smiled when she saw Nico, then realised that Jason was there. Then her eyes widened with shock.

"Oh Hades! We fell asleep up here, didn't we?" Jason nodded, and couldn't help but smile at the flustered look on her cheeks.

"Well, let's go break the news that you're still here," Jason smirked, walking to the lounge. Everyone had seemed to have crashed there at some point, and now they were helping themselves to a lame looking pile of pancakes.

"Found them," He motioned nonchalantly as Nico and Lauren shuffled in to the room embarrassed.

"WHERE WERE THE TWO OF YOU? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN?" Coach immediately shouted. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Relax, satyr. After Lauren had her nightmare last night, I made us some hot chocolate to help her fall asleep. Except, we kind of accidently crashed on the roof instead of back in our cabins."

"FIRST PERCY AND ANNABETH, AND NOW YOU TWO! HONESTLY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE SMARTER THAN THAT LAUREN!"

"Easy Coach, it's my fault," Nico said. Jason dully noted that it was because Lauren was too flustered to speak. Jason might not have liked Nico too much, but he thought it was sweet how he stood up for her and was so protective. The kid really did like Lauren.

Lauren spoke up for the first time. "Look Coach, sorry for the inconvenience. It won't happen again," She said, grabbing Nico's hand, and dragging him to the other side of the room, and away from Coach. They took seats at the far end of the table, under a picture of the pavilion area at camp-halfblood. Their hands never seperated.

"Glad to see they made up quickly," Piper bent over and whispered into Jason's ear as he sat down. She pecked him on the cheek, her way of saying to forget about their argument.

"They do seem to really have a thing for each other," Jason admitted. Coach sat down huffily and helped himself to more pancakes.

"So, I hope that you're all ready to leave tonight, because we are ready to go!" Leo shouted out a mouthful of pancake.

"Why tonight?" Frank asked, voicing Jason's mind.

"I could give you a big, technical explanation, but I doubt that you'll understand that, so let me say it simple. I kind of used like an extra strong crazy glue on some parts of the ship, and we have to wait till tonight before we head out, other wise the ship will break into pieces."

"Fair enough," Jason decided. "I suppose one last day in Rome won't kill us."

"Actually," Nico piped up, turning to Lauren, "It's for the better. I want you to meet someone while we're here."

"That might not be a good idea," Hazel warned her brother. "Last time you went off, you got stuck in Tartarus and trapped in an oxygen deprived jar. We don't need any repeats."

"It'll be good," Lauren spoke up suddenly. "I'll keep him in line."

Jason couldn't help but stare at Lauren. For the first time since he met her, he was getting a glimpse of what she used to be like, before everything happened.

Her eyes, were now sharp and focused with a surprising radiance that made Jason want to look away. And her attitude wasn't as submissive anymore. Same with Nico. It completely fazed Jason what an affect the two had on each other. He wondered if the same thing would happen to him and Piper. Probably not.

"I don't trust sending you two out on your own. Plus, your both two powerful demigods. You're like a giant monster magnet. I'm surprised you two can go on any dates at all," Hedge looked up briefly from the linoleum place mat he was chewing on.

"Actually, I think Gaea is rallying the monsters so they shouldn't have a problem," Piper spoke. Jason ignored the twitch of jealousy in the back of his head as Piper defended them.

"Whatevs, just be back by dinner, or your walking to Greece!" Leo spilt syrup over the edge of his plate. He simply stuck his tongue on the table and licked it up. Lauren pretended to gag.

"Ugh, you're worse than Percy, and I honestly didn't think that was possible."

"Agreed. Haven't you ever heard of manners?" Hazel frowned. Piper crinkled her own nose.

"Boys."

"Yes, _boys._" Hazel and Lauren agreed. All of them earned nudges from their boyfriends.

"Oh yes, because like you're so perfect," Nico playfully shoved Lauren's side. She responded by throwing a pancake at his face. Piper turned to Jason, a crazy look on her face, as Nico started pelting his girlfriend with strawberries, Hedge munching away oblivious.

"Lauren's right. This is going to be fun," Piper smiled crazily as she pushed a pancake all over Jason's surprised face. He pushed her away, catching her laughing figure as he wiped pancake out of his eyes.

"That's a good look for you," She teased. Jason couldn't help but grin.

"Oh, Piper Mclean, it is so on."

And so, seven slightly crazy demigods spent the morning in a gigantic food fight, Coach Hedge sitting in the corner and munching on any scraps that came his way. For the first time, Jason felt a connection to everyone.

They were actually having fun.


	6. Chapter 6

**HEY! Another chapter, it's alot of filler fluff, sorry. I know the last one was too. I just wanted to work on Lauren and Nico's relationship a bit more, so this chapter was the result. Hope it's not too bad. Please read and review! Thank You!**

**Nico**

"Absolutely not."

"Aw, come on Nico! There is no way I'm going to be seen in public with you, if you don't cut your hair," Lauren stood in his bathroom, arms crossed over her chest. In her hands were what she called 'scissors.' To Nico they looked more like shears.

"There is no way in Hades that I'm going to let you cut my hair," He stood his ground.

She rolled her eyes. "Come _on _Nico! For crying out loud, your hair is past your shoulders. You look like a girl."

Lauren had been trying to convince Nico to let her cut his hair. After the food fight, they had gotten cleaned up, but when he asked if she was ready to go, she dragged him into his bathroom. It had been a stand-off for the past fifteen minutes.

"But I like my hair!" He whined. Something was going to have to happen soon, if he was planning on taking Lauren on time. They had to be there for lunch, other wise the doctors wouldn't let them in.

"I love your hair too, but after your time in Tartarus, and the jar, you really need a hair cut."

"Will you at least keep it some-what long?" He started to crumble. He was a sucker for her intense green eyes.

"Of course I'll keep it long," She rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, they were walking off the ship, Nico's hair now only an inch and a half long. He ran his hand through it, grumbling as Coach shouted at them to be back in an hour.

"Are you sure there's no bald spots?" He moaned. She laughed and wrapped her petite arms around his waist. Sparks jolted through his body, and if he didn't know better, he would have thought she was the daughter of Zeus.

"No bald spots," She reassured him. He simply grumbled in response.

"So," She started as they lost sight of the ship as they turned a corner, "Where are we going?"

"I want you to meet someone," He smiled at the confused expression on her face.

"Someone? As in someone living?"

"Last I checked she was still breathing," He smiled. Last time he had told her that he wanted her to meet someone, he'd introduced her to Arthur Conan Doyle. Her favourite author, albeit, a dead one.

"Ok," She nnuzzled into his side. He honestly felt butterflies erupt in his stomach. They had been together for ten months, and she still gave him that feeling. She had since the day that he first layed eyes on her at his military school.

He still was shocked that she cared so much about him. True enough, they had tried to kill each other plenty of times. But all because of misunderstandings. Nico knew that he was a creep. He was unnaturally pale, and he was always spending more time in the land of the dead than with the living. Thanks to dad, that was.

Yet, Lauren was absolutely in love with him. And he was in love with her. If they hadn't loved eachother, they no doubt would have killed each other by now.

He had always been mesmerized by her green eyes. He often got lost in them. They shifted through different greens and blues, rolling like the waves of the ocean. She always had a warm sea breeze scent with her, and her skin was tanned and her muscles toned like any other demigod.

Her hair was black brown, and thick and coarse. He loved nothing better than to run his hand through her hair when she was sleeping. And the best part was, she was his. And he was hers.

"Earth to Nico," Her lovely voice interrupted his thoughts, "You're zoning dude."

He smiled, "Sorry, guess you were distracting me."

"Oh was I now?" A coy grin played on her lips. He leaned down and kissed her perfectly shaped lips. Another jolt of electricity made it's way down his spine.

"Yes, yes you were," He grinned against her lips. She pulled away and pecked his nose. He loved it when she did that.

"Alright," She pulled away laughing, grabbing onto his arm and pulling them down the busy cobble stoned street, "Come on!" They ran for a bit, startling some pigeons, disrupting some grouchy street vendors. As they pulled up to an old building, he pulled her to a stop.

"Here it is."

"Rome's Senior Home?" She asked with confusion. He just grabbed her hand and led her inside. The lady at the counter looked up expectantly.

"We've come to visit Dolce," He told her. She nodded and pointed to the door down the hall and to the left. When they got there, Nico grasped onto Lauren's hand tighter. He'd only been here once before, and he hopped that Dolce remembered. She was old, and her memory wasn't what it once was.

After rapping his knuckles on the door, a strong, yet old voice ushered them inside. He brought them in, shutting the door, the light from the window illuminating the frail figure on the bed. She squinted, then her eyes widened with shock.

"Nico! Sweetie, I thought you hadn't made it out from Tartarus. You worried me so!" She shook her white head, her italien accent thick. He gazed into her eyes which were so much like his own.

"Hey Zia Dolce," He said softly. He could almost see the gears turn in Lauren's head as she translated Zia to Auntie in english. She looked shocked, but he couldn't blame her.

His Zia eyed his and Lauren's clasped hands, then she chuckled. "Is this that beautiful girlfriend of yours that you wouldn't stop talking about last time?" Lauren blushed. "Nice to see my nephew managed to find someone sensible. I'm his Zia. Dolce Di Angelo."

"Sweet Angel," Lauren translated softly. Nico often forgot that Lauren's passion was languages. Which he thought strange as she was just as dyslexic as any other demigod.

His Zia clucked. "And a smart one too. Maybe he isn't as hopeless as I once deemed him to be."

"Zia!" His eyes widened in embarrassment. Lauren just smiled. Then it disappeared.

"Wait, you can see through the mist? Is that how you know about Nico's... encounters?" She used the word carefully. Zia Dolce chuckled.

"Cautious demigod, but then again, I suppose you wouldn't be alive if you weren't. I've heard of you, and not just from my nephew's love sick rants. You're the twin child of Poseidon, aren't you? The first twins to ever be born to the Big Three."

Lauren tensed. She hadn't been prepared for Dolce to know so much. Nico almost felt bad for not telling her more, but his embarrassment was getting in the way. He simply told his Zia alot about his amazing girlfriend. He didn't go on 'love sick rants' like she claimed.

"Um, yes. Me and my twin brother Percy."

"Ironic much? Son of Poseidon, named after a son of Zeus?" Dolce quirked an eyebrow. Nico inwardly face palmed. This meeting wasn't going how he had planned.

Lauren meerly shrugged. But she did step closer to Nico, leaning into his side. He was more than happy to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"Zia, actually," Nico decided to change the topic, "Can see through the mist. Not only that, but she was engaged to a son of Poseidon."

"Really?" Lauren loosened up. "Who? When?"

Dolce chuckled again. "His name was Jasper. Spry young one. My older sister Maria wasn't the only one who could attract your kind. We were engaged to be married before world war two happened. Unfortunately, Jasper was killed in battle with Nico's brother."

Awkward.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Lauren sympathized. "I don't know what I'd do if Nico went to stay with his father permanently." Suddenly pride bloomed in Nico's chest. He really did have the most amazing girlfriend ever.

Nico turned his head to look at her, and she did the same. He smiled before kissing her. That feeling again.

"Well, I'd drag you down to Hell with me," He smiled, pulling back. She giggled. It sounded like silver bells.

"And I'd never leave your side."

"Aw! You two are so adorable together," His Zia exclamed. Nico rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed on his face. That was until he saw the clock.

"Holy Father! Is it really almost four? We should probably get going. Leo wasn't joking about making us walk back to Greece," Nico sighed. But he really was happy. He had brought Lauren here to get approval from his only living relative. And he got it.

"Alright, well, it's been a pleasure to meet you, Dolce," Lauren smiled. Dolce just winked.

"Call me Zia. From the look of things, I wouldn't be surprised if you were Lauren Di Angelo by the end of summer."

"Zia!" Nico's eyes widened. He really thought he was going to be sick. "We're still sixteen!"

"And it's never to early to start," Zia smoothed her blankets, ovbiously not noticing her nephew's discomfort. Lauren laughed anyways.

"Alright, nice to meet you Zia. I'll give you two a minute," Lauren tried to stifle her giggle as she saw the look of horror on her boyfriend's face. She walked outside, shutting the door behind her.

"Zia, are you trying to make me die from embarrassment?" He nearly shouted, cheeks blazing red. His Zia laughed.

"Nonesense, she's amazing, and you'd be stupid to let her slip away." His anger left at the mention of that.

"I don't ever want to let her go," He whispered solemnly. His Zia nodded in approval.

"Good, so I want you to give her this," She took off the golden ring that adorned her left ring finger. It had been her engagement ring.

She placed it into Nico's hand. He stared at the golden ring. It had been elegantly carved to make it look like rolling waves. Pearls and smalll diamonds were embedded in the metal. A cresting wave secured a large 3 karat diamond ring. To humans, this ring would have been priceless.

"Zia Dolce, I can't take this from you."

She shook her head. "I don't want to hear none of it. You're going to need a ring, and seeing as I'm your only living family, I'm the only one who has an heirloom. I want you to give it to her. Prove to her that she's yours forever."

Nico's fingers closed around the ring. He felt... happy.

"Thank you, Zia."

"Don't thank me. Just don't loose her. Oh, and call me up for the wedding. I don't care if I'm dead or not, I'm going to be at my nephew's wedding, understood?"

"Yes, Zia," Nico hugged her. "I'll miss you."

She clucked. "Try not to get stuckin Tartarus this time."

"I won't."

"Good. And tell Lauren I hope to see her again."

"I will. Thank you Dolce," He smiled as he started to walk out of the room. She gave him one last smile.

"You turned out good for Hades child. I'm proud to call you my nephew," She said. He gave her one last smile, that portrayed his feelings perfectly. As he closed her door, he could still hear her chuckling.

"Hey," A perfect voice, said. He smiled and slipped the ring into his pocket.

"Ready to go?" He kissed Lauren's forhead. She nodded.

"I really like you Auntie," She laughed. His cheeks went red.

"What's the chances that I take you to my last living relative, and she embarrasses my socks off, eh?"

"I thought it was cute," She pecked his nose. "And just so you know, I go off on love sick rants aboput you all the time too."

They walked together after that. Hand in hand, enjoying eachother's presence. Eventually though, they got lost.

"So, remember the way back?" Lauren scratched the back of her head, as they stared at the same intersection for the past five minutes. Nico shook his head.

"Yeesh! They're probably gone by now," He muttered. Then he smacked his head. How stupid can he be? "Come on," He pulled Lauren into an alley. She realized what he was doing immediately.

"Wait, are you strong enough yet? You're still healing Nico," She warned like a mother.

"I'm actually completely rested now. Our night on the roof seemed to do the trick," He smiled and she blushed.

"Ok, just don't push yourself," She warned as she wrapped her arms tightly around the small of his nack. He supressed a shiver as she leaned her head into the crook of his neck. He couldn't help but admire how perfectly their bodies were shaped for eachother.

"Ready?" He whispered into her hair. She nodded. He knew she was scared about shadow traveling. She hated the feeling. But it gave him all the more reason to hold her close.

The ring, warm in his pocket, and fresh in his mind, Nico concentrated on the darkness. And then they faded to nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hazel**

Hazel and Frank literally jumped three feet in the air when Nico and Lauren appeared.

They had been talking in the lounge - Jason and Coach were ranting about how it had been four hours since Lauren and Nico left. Leo was contemplating how many giants it would have taken to take the two down. Piper was sleeping, lucky duck.

Anyways, they had both appeared, just like how her father and Nico had before. It always creeped her out. They literally walked out of the darkness.

Lauren was completely clenched up, her body ridged, stiffer than a plank. Her eyes were squeezed closed, and Nico's arms were the only thing keeping her upright.

"We're here," Nico rubbed her back as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Y-you sure?" She stuttered. Nico rolled his eyes.

"No, we're on the moon."

She punched his arm. "Haha. Where's the cheese then?"

Hazel laughed. The two seemed to realize that they had an audience, Lauren's cheeks turning red, Nico's eyes going wide.

"Thank goodness you guys are back," She caught her breath, "Coach has been shouting at every tree since you left."

"You have to deal with him," Lauren muttered automatically.

"Wow, wait a second missy," He wrapped his arms around Lauren's waist. Even though Lauren loosened, Hazel stiffened. She still wasn't used to PDA's. In New Orleans, in the 1940's, they were looked down upon.

"I had to deal with Chiron last time, when he found us sleeping together in my cabin. It's your turn."

"Hey! That's not fair. Chiron at least understood. Coach will just whap my head off with his bat!" She whined. Nico flashed her a grin.

"Better you than me."

That earned him a punch in the gut. Hazel laughed at her brother's stricken expression. He did earn it though.

"What's up Hazel?" Lauren turned to her, leaving her boyfriend on the floor. Hazel laughed.

"The sky."

Lauren laughed too. Hazel always had a respect for Lauren, even before she knew who she was. Nico always talked about her, though he never explained how they met, or who she was. Because she was greek that was. But after they met, the two became close real fast. Lauren was a really nice person. It was too bad so much had turned her into someone who looked like she had held the weight of the world on her shoulders.

When Hazel had mentioned that to her brother last night, he had simply laughed and said, that she had mixed up Lauren and Percy's experiences. No idea what that meant, but Hazel still loved Lauren like a sister. Who knows, she wouldn't be surprised if she really was her sister some day. Nico literally wouldn't shut-up about her. He even sleep talked about her.

"I better deal with Coach then, Mr. Wussy," She rolled her eyes at Nico, before leaving. Hazel bent down and gave her brother a hand up.

"How'd your date go?"

He got this dreamy smile on his face, before reaching into his pocket. When he opened his palm, a ring sat in the center. It was beautifully carved, and Hazel could feel the precious stones implanted in it. It was priceless.

"Oh my gods Nico, where did you get that?" She gasped.

"Do you think she'll like it?" He whispered. Hazel's eyes widened in shock.

"You're going to propose?" She squealed, not sure if she was excited that Lauren was going to be her sister, or upset that they were only sixteen.

"Um, more of like make a promise that I'll never break," Nico's pale skin flushed red. "Do you think it's a bad idea?"

Hazel flung her arms around her brother. "Bad idea? It's perfect Nico! She'll love it. Like how she loves you."

"Really?" Nico smiled, his unsuredness washing away. "I want her to be mine. And I want everything to be perfect."

"It _will _be perfect Nico. As long as you tell her how you feel, I can tell she feel's that way about you too."

Hazel felt bad lying to her brother. She could feel her guts twist at last night's dream. But her brother deserved some happiness. His mother had been killed when he was young, he had been trapped in a hotel for seventy years, and his memories were wiped. Then he lost his only fleshly sister, and had had to grow up fast in the past years.

Lauren was the only person who made Nico feel important. But her dream still nagged in the back of her head. She should tell Jason. The only problem is that Jason would definitely put an end to the couple. Something that Hazel didn't want to be responsible for.

_But then you'll be responsible for the death of your friends. The gods. And Lauren and Nico ultimately._

Gaea's voice itched in her skull, making her stomach turn.

_Go away, _she thought. No response, so Hazel shook her head trying to clear it. She would tell Jason. Even if he seemed like a Greek now, she still trusted him with her life. She'd just tell him tonight. She'd tell everyone tonight.

"Earth to Hazel. Earth to Hazel. Hello? Anyone there?" Nico waved his hand in fron of her face. She flushed.

"Sorry Nico. Didn't get much sleep last night.," She fibbed. He gave her a toothy grin.

"No worries, I didn't either." Just from the look on his face, she decided not to ask.

Suddenly, the ship lurched as a swell of water racked the side. Coach yelled something from up above. Another splash of water. Followed by a crack of lightening.

"Better go calm things down," Hazel sighed as she stood up. Her brother nodded and put the ring back in his pocket, but he wasn't really listening. He still had that goofy grin on his face. Yeesh, what did those two do last night?

They raced up the steps, Piper on their heels, Leo running up with little pieces of his hair smoking. They ran out on deck, brandishing their weapons just in case.

Lauren was standing casually in the middle of the deck, her arms crossed, an amused smile on her from her body posture and her attitude, Hazel could see that Percy and Lauren were twins. They both had that _is-that-all-you-got? _look in their eyes, with a carefree smirk on their lips. Both had perfect beach body's, tanned skin, dark unruly hair, and vivid sea green eyes.

Coach was pacing at the other end of the deck, shouting things that made Hazel's eyes widen. Jason stood beside him scowling. When Jason scowled, it seemed as thought the sky got darker. Jolts of lightening were flickering off his body, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What's going on?" Piper stepped up, the charm speak in her voice calming everyone down a bit. Except for Lauren. From the story's that Hazel had heard, nothing could stop her and Percy once they got into a good fight using water. It was a part of them.

"Nice to see you joined us," Jason shot a cold glare at Nico. He simply stood his ground, an impassive look on his face. That was when Nico looked scariest. When he had that calm look on his face, right before he killed someone with a snap of his fingers.

"Calm down Jason, it's not like they tried to kill us all in our sleep," Piper tried again, but yawned, taking away from the effect of her charm speak.

"Me calm down? Piper, they're going to get us all killed! Gallavanting off like that. And if we don't succeed, it will be all their fault!" Jason screamed. Hazel took a step back to Frank's side as he came out of the halls. Frank's eyes went wide at hearing Jason scream, and he put a protective arm around Hazel. That made her feel better as they stepped back to watch everything unravel.

"What the heck Jason! We were gone for a couple of hours! The world didn't end, so why can't you drop it?" Nico shouted back. Jason's face flushed red with furry, before Hazel could do anything, she watched in horror as Jason sent a jolt of lightening at Nico. Nico's body went ridged, and Hazel hoped that Jason had thought first, and didn't kill him. But then, faster than Jason's lightening bolt, water tendrils wrapped around Jason's arms and legs, tightening and becoming dense in a way that was technically impossible.

Everyone went quiet as Jason was lifted a few feet off the ground, entrapped within the tight water tendrils. Hazel looked with horror back at Lauren. Her amused smile was gone now, replaced with a hard look in her eyes. Hazel had seen that look only one other time. When Percy was protecting Annabeth. She involuntarily held her breath.

Lauren's face was calm, but her eyes were like violent tsunamis, shifting to a dark green. A slight wind whipped her dark hair in front of her tanned face, her orange t-shirt flowing loosely around her body. Her hands were at her sides, but splayed out, palms facing the ground. Little balls of water hovered just under them, and Hazel watched in horror as she clenched her fist, and tightened Jason's bonds.

She walked over slowly, the smusement gone from her face. Yet her eyebrow twitched upwards, as though she couldn't believe that Jason had the nerve to do what he was doing.

Jason struggled. Lauren quirked an eyebrow.

"I suggest you don't. Even though your own electricity won't kill you, it still will give you quite a zap, and water is an excellent conductor of electricity. You don't have to be Annabeth to know that," Her voice was steely calm. For the first time ever, Hazel realized just how bad it was to be on the recieving end of Lauren's anger.

Lauren's eyes softened as she looked over at Nico. In everything that happened, Hazel had forgotten about her brother. She reached out to touch him, but his muscles were all still stiff. Frank took a step forward.

"Guys, this isn't how we deal with our problems," His voice was serious. Hazel was so proud of her boyfriend at that moment.

"Tell that to Wonder Boy," Lauren growled. Was it just Hazel, or did the ocean suddenly start splashing the boat harder?

"This is what Gaea wants," Frank reasoned with her. "For us all to rip eachother to bits before we even get to Greece."

"_Shut-up Frank!_" She screamed, her face flushing with anger. Hazel gulped loudly.

"Think about Percy, Lauren," Frank whispered. It had the desired affect. Immediatley Lauren's muscles relaxed, and Jason fell back to the deck, the water returning to the ocean. Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"For Percy and Annabeth," She muttered. Then she opened her intense green eyes. When Hazel had first met her, her eyes had been dull and broken looking. Hazel wasn't yet used to the intensity that now filled them.

"But," Lauren's voice got calm again. Suddenly the ocean around them went flat. Hazel remembered her time in Alaska. the fishermen told her that the ocean was always eerily flat before a major storm. Right now the water was like a perfect mirror.

"If you ever touch me, or Nico again," She glared at Jason who struggled to get up, "I swear on the river styx that you will not live to see the sunlight again. _Ever." _And then she pushed her way past everyone, and headed below deck.

The sky thundered, but not in it's usual way. It was an old thunder, that sent shivers down Hazel's spine. It must have been a Greek oath, but just from the situation, Hazel knew that Lauren would keep that oath through death.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy**

He moaned.

Percy's mind felt numb and useless. And... empty. He blinked as he realized that Gaea's presence was gone. She had kept him in limbo, and now that she was gone, his thoughts were finally his own again. The mass of blonde hair in his arms moved.

They were lying on what looked to be black ice. He could see for miles, but then again, he couldn't really. It was so black. The ice beneath him was cold, and the underneath swirled with the unexpected.

Lauren.

That was how he was free of Gaea. He remembered the slip so exactly. She must have been hugging Nico. He guessed that the jolt must have loosened Gaea's hold on him, the only reason he was awake now.

His head ached, but he was surprisingly healed from his injuries during the battle. As his thoughts came plowing into his head, like a crashing wave on the beach, one thought struck him cold.

He was in Tartarus.

He shivered involuntarily, because he guessed the only reason that they were alive was because Gaea was stuck in his head. Now they were on their own, but Percy wasn't complaining. Annabeth moved her face up to his.

"Seaweed Brain?" Her voice was weak, but Percy couldn't help but smile. If she was insulting him, then she was good. Nothing to be worried about.

"I'm here Annabeth."

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Her voice cracked. Percy pulled her close, and kissed her temple lightly.

"No were not. Hurt any where, Wise Girl?" He whispered. In Tartarus, he was to scared to talk. She shook her head slowly.

"That's weird. My ankle is better," She muttered.

"Gaea healed my wounds too, while we were in limbo. Guess she needs her scarifices in tip top condition, before she's allowed to rise," He rolled his eyes. Annabeth snuggled closer the Percy.

"We really are going to die though, aren't we? Percy, this is where all the essences of monsters linger. We're in there home zone," She shivered.

"C'mon Annabeth. We've been in worst situations before. Remember our first quest? Zeus accused me of stealing his lightening bolt, for crying outloud!" She didn't say anything, so he continued reminiscing. "Then there was that time we defeated Polympheus, and the time we held the sky on our shoulders, and when we survived the labrynth, and I blew a volcano up, and we defeated Kronos for crying out loud!"

"But Percy, none of those situations were as bad as this one. No mortal has ever been to Tartarus and back. Save for Nico. And did you see how he came out as? And he's a child of the Underworld, for crying out loud! We don't stand a chance Percy. Even the gods avoid this place," She whimpered.

"Well, I guess that we're just going to prove everybody up then eh? I have to say, it'll be nice to rub something in Ares face for once."

Annabeth socked his shoulder.

"Hey!"

She rolled her eyes. "I have no idea how you do it, Seaweed brain," She muttered, before smiling and nuzzling into his shoulder. "We should probably start moving though."

Percy wrapped his arm around his girlfriend.

"A little bit longer won't hurt."

He smiled into the darkness. Yes, Percy Jackson was the unluckiest demigod ever, according to some. He was going to go down in legend, possibly as a greater Hero than even Hercules. All because he was unlucky. He had fought various gods, he had lost track of how many times he had almost been killed, he'd been picked on by Kronos, was unlucky enough to be a demigod in not only one, but two Great prophecies, and he was stuck in Tartarus.

But Annabeth was wrapped in his arms. From what he gathered, his sister was safe. His friends were making it, and his camp and home was still going strong. Yeah, Percy Jacson was stuck in Tartarus.

But to him, life couldn't get any better.

**Shortest. Chapter. Ever.**

**I'm so terribly sorry to keep you waiting, then make a poor update like this. But, this chapter was fairly important. Please don't hate me, and the next chapter will be worth the wait. I promise. Monsters are a coming!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Lauren**

Lauren was sitting in the water.

After a day of travel, they had to pause in their journey once more. None of them liked the idea of staying overnight at open sea in the Mare Nostrom, but Leo said that they had to cool down the engine. So, as soon as they stopped, she hopped overboard.

All day Lauren had been avoiding Jason. Just looking at the kid made her blood boil. Which was also the reason why she was in the water. Sooner or later they would have to get along. But Lauren needed to cool off before that time came.

It was shallow ocean where they were. She was only about a hundred feet down. Above her the water shimmered with the dying sunlight. She sighed. She would give anything to have Percy with her at the moment. She thought back to last summer, where everything was less complicated.

Sure the Titans had been trying to hack them apart, but they had all their old friends with them. Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, Silena, Charles, heck, even Luke was still alive.

And Grover. Lauren thought of their first bestfriend. Her and Percy had met him when they were twelve. It seemed so long ago. Since Grover became Lord of the Wild, they hadn't seen him at all. She missed his crazy bleats, and nervous stutters. They could never have asked for a more true friend.

Somehow, everything had gotten so messed up. Half of her friends were dead. Her brother and Annabeth were in Tartarus. And she was on a crazy quest, with a bunch of Newbie's, and Jason. The arrogant, perfect kid of Zeus. Er, Jupiter. Whatever.

She sighed. At least she had Nico. He always knew how to calm her down. They had first met when they were thirteen. Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, Grover and Lauren had been sent to extract Nico and his sister Bianca. Unfortunately, long story short, Bianca died. They learned that Nico was Hades kid, and he wanted to kill them.

Yeah, to most people, having some nutjob try to kill them would be a turn off. But not to demigods. It was actually quite a regular occurence. You should have seen how many times Annabeth almost killed Percy.

Lauren had always known that she and Nico were polar opposites. First in their complexion, and also in their chose of 'entertainment.' She liked to swim, he liked to talk to the dead. She could command water at will. He could turn into shadows. Both of them had known that it would probably have never worked out. They were technically cousins after all. Both born to two powerful gods. But there had always been an attraction that neither of them could deny.

She smiled as she remembered how nervous Nico had been when he first asked her out, a few weeks after the Titan war. Percy had helped him and everything. It had been one of her favourite memories.

She sighed as a school of fish scuttled nearby. The Nerieds had treid to talk to her, but she had brushed them off. She felt like a balloon that was supposed to burst a long time ago. Over filled with anger, pain, and sorrow.

The ocean floor was like a desert. It went on flat forever it seemed. As dangerous as these waters were, everything was so serene at the moment. A hundred feet under, that was.

Her serenity was suddenly interrupted though, as a splash beside the hull of the ship caught her attention. As the bubbles cleared, she couldn't help but smile at a flailing Nico. He had hopped overboard, in just his ripped skinny jeans, which were - surprise, surprise - black. He was trying to look for her, and as much as she wanted to be alone, she couldn't let her boyfriend drown.

Feeling an all too familiar tug in her gut, an air bubble surrounded Nico's upper body. He looked confused for a moment, trying to fill his air deprived lungs. It didn't take him long to figure it out though, as Lauren carefully brought the bubble to the ocean floor. She focused to make sure that the pressure inside of the bubble was bearable for him. She could withstand alot more than a normal human.

For a second she just stared into the buuble, her arms crossed, a scowl across her face. Nico of all people knew that when she wanted to be left alone, she should be left alone. No questions asked.

She sighed as she could no longer stay angry at him. Her arms dropped to her sides. She couldn't help but stare at her boyfriend. Hey, in her defense, she was a teenaged girl, and her boyfriend was shirtless. He was deathly pale, but like all demigods, he was not lacking in the muscle department. His bare arms were well toned, and he had the start of an eight pack going on.

She enlarged the buuble to include her upper body. She was still a foot away from him, and as always, as soon as she was out of the water, she was dry. It was a Poseidon thing.

"What are you doing, Nico?"

She wasn't asking why he was coming to talk to her. No, she was asking what he was doing in the water. Just like Thalia, water wasn't exactly a good thing for Nico. Kids of the big three weren't really welcomed to their families domains.

"Coming to see if you're alright," He shook his head, the water in his hair spraying Lauren. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she gave him a short glare. Then it softened as she sighed. She sat down, the air bubble following her, Nico sitting down just as fast to stay in the bubble.

They sat criss cross apple sauce across from eachother, on the now dry ocean bed. The bubble formed a small dome over them.

"I'm okay," She admitted. Nico grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Then he flashed her a cocky smirk.

"You know, I can fight my own fights though," He smiled, and she gave a weak laugh. The humour in her eyes died fast though.

"Yea, I'm sorry Nico. I don't know what's up with me. I just... whenever I'm around Jason, I want to rip my hair out. He's so perfect. So Roman. I can't stand him. And then he shocked you, and all I could think about was Thalia shocking Percy, and how I couldn't loose you Nico. I can't loose another one I love. It might have been selfish, but I meant everything I said. I just... I don't know if I can handle it," She whispered, her body wracked with sobs, tears falling down her face like waterfalls.

Nico leaned over and hugged her. He hated seeing her like this. It made him feel horrible inside. Like he ate something nasty, and was only starting to feel the unfortunate affects.

"Hey, it's alright. Shh, it's alright," He couldn't help it when a single tear made it's way down his cheek too. She was so broken. And the worst part was that he was guilty for some of her shattered pieces.

He rubbed her back. She had moved onto his lap, and he didn't even say anything as the air bubble got smaller with her lack of concentration. He was willing to go back to Tartarus right now, if it meant that she would feel better.

"Please stop crying. I hate it when you cry," He admitted. Lauren took a deep breath. "Look," He grabbed her face with his hands, leaning in so that his forehead rested on hers as he looked into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. You and me, no matter what happens, we will be together. Even if I have to drag you down to hell with me," They both gave small smiles at the inside joke.

He used his thumbs to carefully wipe the tears away from her cheeks. She looked at the ground as he did. He was tired, and worn out from everything. The years of fighting and running had given him a hard edge, so to speak. But his eyes glowed with warmth. He was right. Even if they had to go to hell, just like Percy had realized with Annabeth, everything would be fine, as long as they were together.

His lips pressed onto her slightly. She closed her eyes, accepting the comfort. And that was when she knew it. She loved him. Really, really loved him. And it wasn't some Aphrodite love story. It was deep. They had been to hell together (Literally) and she knew that what they had was true.

Lauren Jackson was in love with Nico Di Angelo.

As they both pulled away for a breath, Nico gave her a small smile.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You kinda did," She laughed a bit. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I was just... wondering. Why do you love me?" His voice was so innocent. He looked at her with big black eyes. It was her turn to carefully move his long silky bangs out of his face. She kept her hand on his cheek.

"What's not to love? Nico, I've known you since we we're thirteen. For demigods, that's a long time. I guess I've always had a crush on you. But, as I've recently learned, when I'm not with you, I'm not me. You complete me Nico. Without you, I can't function. I can't live. You, Mr. Di Angelo, are literally my life force."

She gave a light chuckle as she came to that realization. Oh, the irony.

He gave her smile. "I love you too. I feel the same way. It's just, you can do so much better than me Lauren. You're talented, strong, smart, and so beautiful that I can't even begin to comprehend. You're so perfect, and I'm Hades kid. I'm a creep who spends more time with the dead than the living. I have really, really bad anger issues, and I'm the weird kid that everyone avoids. You're perfect, and I'm... not."

He stared at the ground. She sighed.

"You know Nico, you promised that you would never lie to me again," She gave him a small smile, as he looked up confused. "I don't care if others think you're a creep. They're the ones missing out. And no one's perfect. I have my own handful of major problems. But I one time read a book. I read it in fifth grade, before I knew about all this craziness. Before Percy and I knew that we were demigods. It was a book called the Book Thief. It's nararrated in the view point of Death. Nico, you might be Hades child. You might be a child of the underworld, and death, and darkness, but that book got one thing right. It said, and I quote, 'Yes, I know it. In the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know. He'd have loved it, all right. You see? Even death has a heart.' And I know that you're heart is the biggest of all of them, and I'm just lucky that you found room for me in there."

There were tears running down his cheeks as she told him that. Lauren smiled and kissed the tear tracks. She kissed him between the eyes. She kissed the tip of his nose. Gently, she kissed his lips. He kissed her back.

"I don't care what others think. I love you Nico. I really do. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I love it when you do that," He whispered as she nuzzled against his neck. She just smiled in response. She loved the way that her head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck. Screw what Hera thinks. They were meant to be together, and they would be.

Nico pulled away for a second. She couldn't help but notice how nervous he looked. Most people wouldn't have been able to pick it out, but she had become an expert at reading Nico Di Angelo.

"You love me, yeah? No matter what? No matter what any prophecies say, we'll stay together?" He nervously gulped. Lauren nodded in confusion. What was he getting at? He knew that better than anyone.

Slowly, he reached into his pocket. He pulled something out, keeping the palm of his hand closed. She stared at him strangely. He took one more breath, before taking her left hand in his open one. Her breath caught in her throat as he isolated her ring finger.

No. Way.

She tried to contain her excitment, anxiousness, and confusion, as he clumsily slid a ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

"Nico, w-whe- wha, h-h-" He silenced her stuttering gibberish with a soft kiss on the lips. She smiled at him fondly.

"It was my aunts. She gave it to me for when the time was right. Lauren, we might not be old enought to get married, but I want people to know that you're mine. It's a promise."

"It's beautiful," She breathed, as she examined the ring. It was pure gold, crafted to look like crashing waves. Small pearls and diamonds were set in it, a large cresting wave securing in a large diamond. It was gorgeous.

"Not as beautiful as you," Nico smiled. Lauren wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she pulled away suddenly as she remembered something.

"I don't have a ring to give you!"

He chuckled. "It's ok. I'm sure that we'll find something along the way," He shrugged. But Lauren was not deterred. Suddenly, she reached up and undid her necklace, going so fast that it almost broke. She slid off his favourite skull ring, the one that he had given her originally. She handed it to him.

"Until I have time to get you a proper one," She closed his hand around it. He smiled and kissed her again.

"Until we have the time," He repeated as he slid the ring onto his ring finger. They sat there for a while, entangled in eachothers arms, their sontented silence speaking for the both of them. As the sun completely set, the ocean turned dark.

"We should probably get out of here," Lauren whispered into Nico's ear. She could feel his body release tension in relief. She grabbed his hand, as she felt another tug in her gut. She had the water current, raise them to the surface.

They broke the top with a splash. Lauren adding a little extra boost to the current, so that they went flying into the air, and onto the deck. They both landed with a clumsy crash, laughing as Hazel jogged up to them.

"Finally. I was starting to get worried," She gave a relieved smile as she handed her brother his shirt and jacket. Lauren had managed to make sure that he came out dry too, so he slipped into his black shirt and jacket. She mentally said goodbye to his beautiful abs. Then she mentally cursed herself for acting like such a girl.

"Sorry we took so long," Nico gave a kind smile to his sister. Lauren was really happy that Nico had found Hazel. She was a really cool person, Lauren and Hazel clicked the first day they met, and Lauren loved to hear about life in the forties.

She took a breath. She had to get this over at some point or another.

"Where's Jason?"

Hazel and Nico's conversation grinded to a halt. Nico squeezed her hand encouragingly.

"In his cabin," Hazel gave her a reassuring look. Before she could chicken out, she let go of Nico's hand and went to search for the Roman.

As she walked to his door, she tried to think of what to say. I'm sorry and please don't do anything stupid or else I will have to actually kill you know because I swore on the Styx? She shook her head. This was going by ear.

She knocked on his door, and went in when she heard Jason mumble. He was laying on his back on the bed, staring at the roof. He hardly even looked up as she entered the room.

"I have to apologize Jason," She took a breath. Just like Annabeth, she hated to admit when she did something wrong. It was one of the reasons that they were such good friends. Both were as stubborn as mules.

"No, I'm in the wrong," He finally looked up. "You were right. I shouldn't have lost control of myself like that."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Look, this won't be happening again, so just let me say my piece. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made that oath. It was wrong. There, I said it, I did something wrong."

Jason couldn't help but chuckle. "You're pretty stubborn, you know that?"

Lauren rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall. "Trust me, you aren't th first one to bring it up."

"So we good now?"

"Definitely. We're good."

"Good."

"Good."

"Good."

"Awkward."

"Awk- hey!" Lauren chuckled.

"That's what you get for copying me," She sang song. It might have been immature, but hey, her twin brother was Perseus Jackson. She lived with the dictionary definition of immaturity. Jason laughed.

"Touche, Jackson. Touche." They were both sielnt for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you mean, by 'you swear on the Styx?' Is that a greek thing or something?"

Lauren sighed. "Yeah, it's the most sacred oath one can make. Your sister was actually turned into a pine tree because of our dads swearing on the Styx."

"You serious?" His eyebrows shot up. "Does that mean that I'm gonna..."

"What? Turn into a maple? Highly unlikely, although, I wouldn't jinx it," She laughed. His face was kind of pale, but then the colour returned.

"Phew. When I first got to camp, and I heard that Thalia had been a pine tree, it was pretty freaky. Nothing like knowing that your sister spent half a decade as a pine tree to boost your morale," he grumbled. "Annabeth assured me too."

Lauren got quiet at the mention of her best friend. She got that familiar ache in her chest, that she got whenever she thought of Percy.

"Yeah, Annabeth is amazing," She sighed. Jon sat up awkwardly.

"We'll find them. Don't worry," He told her, although it sounded as though he was trying to convince himself as well. She was interuppted by a sudden shaking of the hull.

It was like a silent tremor through the ship, and she grabbed onto the door frame to steady herself. She looked over at Jason, eyes wide. "You ffelt that too, right?". He nodded. Another tremor, and Lauren pulled out her sword. The leather grip fit perfectly in her hand as always. It was actually a short sword, double edged celestial bronze, but on her it was the length of a normal sword. Jason pulled out his coin.

They quietly ran upstairs, not making a sound. Fighting was second nature to them, even though they had actually never been in battle together before, they both subconsciously covered each other.

Another tremor made Lauren loose her footing. That was when the screams and war shouts on the deck reached their ears. They burst into the blinding darkness, with only lamp light to lead them, only to gawk in horror at what they saw.

They were under attack.

Wow, understatement of the year. They immediately ran to their comrades aid. In the dying sunlight, Lauren could make out the beastly monster. A drakon. Only, it wasn't a normal drakon. Heck, it wasn't even like the drakon that had killed Silena in the Titan war. It was green, with black stripes down it's glistening scales. It appeared to be a sort of marine drakon, if that was possible. Oh, and it had multiple heads that shot not only classic drakon acid, but also fire. It's tail also seemed to have multiple tentacles attached to it, each with a mind of their own.

Frank had turned into a gryphon kind of thing, and was currently attacking it from the air. Some of it's tentacles were trying to swat him out of the air. Hazel and Piper were both occupied with the rest of it's tail, while Leo was placing his hands on the hide and catching himself on fire. The scales seemed to corrode just a bit when he did that. Nico was trying to fend off three heads at once.

Jason immediately runs to Piper's aid as a tentacle wraps around her waist. Hazel tries to cut it off, but her spatha hardly scratches the surface, and she has to deal with her own problems as one snakes around her ankle. Piper takes her knife and drives it into the flesh, the arm finally releasing her. Jason runs over to distract it as both of them try to get their bearings again.

Lauren runs directly towards Nico. They always made the best fighting team. At camp, if Lauren and Nico were on the same team as Percy and Annabeth, the other team always lost. The four of them knew each other so well, that they were pretty much undefeatable.

Nico had a shady way of fighting. That was the only way that Lauren could describe it. His sword was Stygian iron, blacker than night. Lauren was more of a skill fighter. Whereas her brother focused on strength, and Annabeth focused on strategy, Lauren focused on the technique. You didn't have to be the best, if your skills were better than your opponents.

Nico was occupied with two of the heads, and would have gotten bite by the other, had Lauren not intervened. Spinning to bring as much force into her move as possible, her sword slashed clean through the drakons tongue. The one head reared back in pain. Nico took the opportunity to stab the eyes of the other head. Lauren watched in awe as one head lunged for him, but pulled back in confusion as he disappeared. He came out of the shadows on it's neck, driving his blade into it. The one head dissipated into monster dust, Nico jumping onto the deck. Lauren couldn't help but admire how bad-ass he looked when he stood up.

One head down, two to go. A flaming thing blurred Lauren's vision and seared her eyebrows. She rolled her eyes. Leo.

A quick glimpse to her left, showed that the others weren't doing so well. Jason was wounded, his arm hanging limply at his side, his spear clutched awkwardly in his left hand. Hazel had lost her spatha, and was using what looked like a kitchen knife to stab at the tentacles. Piper was in no better condition.

Lauren thrusted her blade into the monsters other head. Right between the eyes. She didn't know her monsters like Annabeth. She classified them like her brother did. Monsters I fought, Scary monsters, stupid looking monsters, and monsters related to her. Don't ask.

For a moment, Lauren thought that they were going to win. Monster dust crumbled into her hair. The scream is what shattered that thought.

Piper was pulling an unconscious Leo put of the way. Jason was helping a limping Hazel fall back.

"Fall back!" He screamed. Lauren stared at him incredulously. For a Roman, they didn't seem to grasp the concept that the drakon wasn't going to let them fall back. Maybe it was only a Greek monster, which is why they don't know how to fight it.

She turned back, in time to see the most horrible thing ever.

It had reared it's head back, about to dive back into the water. But at the last possible second, it's tentacle wrapped around the closest thing. Nico. The surprised look on his face seared into her mind like hot metal on cowhide. His pale skin, black hair, dark endless eyes. His sword clattered to the deck, as he was pulled back as the drakon dived. One second there, the next gone.

For a second, everything stopped. Lauren couldn't breath. The others stared. No, she was not going to loose Nico too. Not after everything that had happened. Her brain wasn't comprehending anymore. She did everything on instinct.

She dropped her sword, and dove over board.


	10. Chapter 10

**Jason**

The fight had been going good at first.

Jason had never seen, let alone fought this monster before. It definitely had to be A Greek monster. It was huge, probably bigger than the area where they would eat back at Camp Jupiter.

At first it started a little sketchy. It was difficult enough fighting monsters when you had studied them. Let alone had never even heard of them before. He had actually thought that they might win the fight.

Nico actually had some pretty awesome sword fighting skills. And he was waring tight black skinny's. Jason had never seen the kid fight before then, at Camp Jupiter he would always sit out of the war games, and his moves impressed Jason. He would have had a hard time if he got in a sword fight with that kid.

Everything seemed to have been going fine.

Until Lauren went crazy and jumped over board.

At that point, Jason lost hope. He watched her completely drop her sword, and instead of falling back like Jason had shouted, she ran straight over board. Jason surged forward as she disappeared under the water.

"Lauren!" He shouted. He began to run after her, when an insistent tugging stopped him. He turned in time to see Piper's distraught face.

"Leave her Jason. We have to go. She knows what she's doing!"

"No she doesn't!" Jason shouted in hysteria. What was she thinking? Piper and Hazel pulled him behind the mast as the drakon disappeared underneath the waves. That was when the inexblicable happened.

The remaining demigods fell back in horror as a wave came cresting over the ship. Jason wrapped his arms around Piper to protect her, shielding her with his own body. He took a breath, and closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the blue hazard.

It never came. He opened his eyes slowly at first. Cautiously. And what he saw, took his breath away more so than any wave could have done.

They were underneath the surface of the water, the entire ship surrounded in a large air bubble. The others opened their eyes cautiously as well. Their bubble was sinking fast, but that wasn't what made Jason's eyes bulge.

The drakon seemed to be suspended in the water in front of them. It thrashed, but was unable to move. Jason saw why. Lauren was standing in between them, her arms out stretched, her head bowed low. As she clenched her fists, the water seemed to tighten, like how it did when Jason had been her prisoner. He suddenly felt bad for the drakon. He knee what it was like to be at the end of Lauren's rage.

He looked up at the surface of the water, and was grateful that Lauren had thought to save the ship. It no longer looked like the surface of the ocean. Rather, it looked like the insides of some monster. Waves thrashed about, certain ones actually exploding.

It was then that Jason noticed the sea creatures. Giant squid, baracudda, great whites. There were even eels and other kinds of fish that he had never seen except for in Finding Nemo before.

And the crazy thing was, they seemed to be waiting for Lauren's command. And as soon he never even saw what it was. They all just attacked the drakon in sync. He watched on horror as they attached themselves to the drakon. Everything was a flurry of bubbles and green slime as the drakon let out an ear piercing howl of despair. Piper hid her face in Jason's shoulder. Hazel did the same to Frank. Leo just stared in a detached sort of way. Jason know what he was thinking.

Lauren was controlling all of this? He suddenly knew that if he and Percy got in a fight, it would be evenly matched. But if he and Lauren got in a fight, He just hoped he would die quickly. She didn't get blurry minded in a fight. Oh no. Instead she was aware of her resources, and made sure that she used them.

It was no wonder that Gaea wanted Percy. If she could get her hands on Lauren and Percy together... he gulped. He didn't want to think of the consequences.

That was when the water erupted. What was left of the drakon now floated before his eyes, in the form of monster dust. The ship rose with the explosion. The water was white, as the fish disapated as fast as they came. Suddenly sun light flooded them as they were coughed up. He watched as the water blew up all around him, just like it did in the bay. Except that had been Percy who had caused that explosion.

His senses finally came to as Piper let out an ear piecing scream.

Huh.

Funny thing about kids of Jupiter, you don't realize that you're in the air, three hundred feet up and falling fast, until your girlfriend screams a death screeching howl. Huh, funny.

His reflexes kicked in as he created an air cushion between the ocean surface, which was even scarier looking now, and the five demigods. And coach Hedge. Jason risked a peak down, and had to hold his dinner in. The ocean was completely gone beneath them. The boat was sitting on the ocean bed. A dry ocean bed. The water was standing up like walls in a giant circle. Lauren and Nico were standing in the center of the ocean floor.

Hazel's scream interuppted him next. HE looked back up to see her drop faster. And the ground was ALOT closer. He closed his eyes as one last final burst of concentration blew from his tired limbs. THey all fell to the ground some-what softly. Jason gasped as he had the wind knocked out of him. He turned to where Piper was laying. But he didn't have to go far. Hehe. He might have wrapped her into his chest when they were falling.

She looked up to him with those amazing eyes. With the water surrounding them, they appeared blue. He mouthed alright, and she nodded. Everyone else seemed fine too. Hazel was clutching her ankle, but other than that, everyone seemed to be good. It was then that Jason noticed how eerily quiet everything was, despite the water surrounding them. It was creepy, only one noise was audible.

Lauren's sobs.

Aware of that, everyone suddenly ran to the other side of the ship. Jason skidded to a halt in his tracks when he saw her.

She was clutching Nico's upperbody, hugging him tightly, the rest of him lying limply on the ground. She was cupping his cheek with her hand, her forehead pressed to his. Her cheeks were wet, and his chest... wasn't moving.

Jason felt his own breath catch in his throat, as he and the others made their way closer. The others all stood at a respectful distance, as Jason knelt on the other side of Nico's body. He placed a hand on Lauren's shoulder. She looked up through her tears, and her eyes were what made his breath catch. They were even more broken than when he had first met her. But it wasn't that that scared him. It was the lack of her presence in them.

"I should have protected him. I didn't protect him," She muttered.

"No Lauren. There was nothing you could do-"

Lauren cut him off. "But there was Jason!" She screamed hysterically. "We were supposed to be there for eachother. That was our promise! We promised Jason!" The water suddenly turned darker. Jason could feel the others holding their breath. Just waiting for the impact.

Lauren turned back to Nico's body. "I love you," She whispered, tears falling onto his cold cheeks.

That was when it got weird.

"Guys, he's not dead."

"What?" Lauren looked up, a bit of herself back in her eyes. She glared at Hazel, although daring her to repeat what she said. For a second, Hazel cowered under her gaze. Then she took a deep breath.

"He's not being let in. I can feel it. I don't know why, but if he looks hard enough, he should be able to come back."

"But we freed Death," Frank proteste. Hazel only stared at Lauren.

"This doesn't have to do with Death. Does it?" For some reason she asked the end like a question. A question that made no sense, but that Lauren seemed to know the answer too. Lauren swallowed and looked back at Nico.

"No, you're right."

It was barely a whisper, but Jason could still here it. He was taken aback. "What?"

Lauren looked up with tear brimmed eyes. "But he's not dead?" Hazel shook her head. Then Lauren did something that no one expected. She slapped Nico. Hard.

Piper gasped. Lauren simply slapped him again.

"Wake up you idiot. Wake up!" She screamed. "You are not going to Hell without me!"

And then he coughed.

And opened his eyes. He looked a little dazed, but his eyes focused on Lauren.

"I won't," He gave her a weak smile. Jason was surpried that her hug didn't smother him. Jason couldn't help but laugh, and joined in the hug. In a matter of moments, Nico was being tackled by everyone.

"Glad your back cuz," Jason laughed shakily.

"Oh Nico!" Hazel hugged him tight. He hugged her back. Lauren walked up to him, and slapped him hard across the face. That silenced everyone as he held a hand up in shock.

"That, was for scaring me," She growled. Then she kissed him hard. "And that, was for being ok," She whispered as everyone laughed. Nico kissed her back.

"You and me, no matter what happens, we'll be together. I told you that. I love you too," He smiled. Jason couldn't help but notice the ring on Lauren's finger as he grabbed her hand. That looked suspisciously like an engagement ring... He was going to have a talk with his cousins later.

"Hey, guys? Sorry to cut your reunion short, but can we maybe finish this else where?" He gestured to the bowl that they were in. Lauren nodded, but not before Hedge pushed his way to the front.

"NICE FIGHTING SKILLS JACKSON!" He shouted. Lauren just nodded numbly as he continued ranting.

"Need a hand cuz?" Jason offered Nico as coach went off to scout the ship. Nico nodded and pullde himself up. As soon as he was upright, he collapsed on Jason's shoulder. Jason felt real bad for the kid. All these crazy trips couldn't be good on his body. Lauren walked over to Hazel, who put her arm around Lauren's shoulder. Slowly, the group made their way to the ship. Jason walked beside Piper, his arm around her waist.

"Hey."

"Hey," She whispered.

"I miss you." She looked at him weirdly for that one, but then her eyes softened.

"I miss you too."

It wasn't the staying away kind of miss you. It's the kind where you can't spend time with someone. That was the kind of miss that Jason felt. Very slowly, they all made their way up to the ship. As soon as they were all on deck. The water went crashing back to place in slow motion. The ship stayed upright as they all made their way to the dining room. Everyone collapsed.

As they ate a silent meal, Jason finally broke the silence. "So, what's this secret that you guys are hiding?" He gestured to Lauren, Nico, and Hazel, all of whom sat at the end of the table. They all looked at the ground. Lauren spoke up.

"How do you know, Hazel?"

The girl looked at Lauren. Lauren was three years her senior, almost four. Yet, they could have both been old women, due to the look of sorrow on their faces.

"Dream."

"Me too."

"Ok, are you two going to inform us all?" Frank sighed annoyed. Hazel shot her boyfriend an apologetic look.

"Lauren and Nico aren't part of the Great prophecy. As you all know, Lauren was transported her by Hera when we were crossing the ocean, and Nico was recently rescued. They aren't part of the seven," HAzel slowly started to explain. A sshe paused to drink some OJ, Lauren picked up the story.

"So the real question is why are we here. Like, Nico you guys rescued, but there was really no reason for me to be here. Normally, if there are more people than what the prophecy has designated, it ends badly. Percy and I have experienced this personally."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked. Suddenly Nico looked sad. REAlly sad. Lauren gave his hand a squeeze, and he gave her a small smile.

"When we were thirteen, Annabeth had gone missing. So had the goddess Artemis. Long story short, me, Thalia, Zoe, Grover and Bianca went looking for her," Hazel gasped involuntarily. Jason just listened in confusion. "Percy, ran away and eventually joined us, much to Zoe's dismay. But it was too many for the prophecy. Only three of us returned as always. I ended up visiting my dad due to an injury. Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia returned. Grover had been sent to Olympus with Bessie. Zoe and... and Bianca died."

Everyone was quiet. Jason had no idea who some of those people were. Thalia was his sister of course. Lauren and Percy he knew. He had heard of Grover while at Camp Halfblood, and then there was Annabeth. But some names were unfamiliar. Who was Bessie and Zoe? And the Bianca chick?

That was when he noticed tears silently crawling down Nico's face. Could? No.

"Bianca was your sister, wasn't she?" He whispered to Nico. HE gave a detached nod, squeezing Lauren's hand tighter.

Suddenly the room temperature seemed thirty degrees cooler.

"Ok, so, obviously bad things happen," JAson broke the silence. JAson had no idea that Nico had a real sister, other than Hazel. THe fact that she was dead was kind of sad. He felt really bad for the kid. He had been through alot.

"But nothing happened this time." Lauren finished.

"You don't know that. What if it just hasn't happened yet," Leo pointed out. Then Jason shook his head.

"Guys, it already did." That earned everyone's attention. He sighed. "Percy and Annabeth?"

Wow, way to darken the mood Grace.

Lauren shook her head ferverently though. "No, Percy and Annabeth are definitely a part of the prophecy. Whatever happened to them, was supposed to happen. The reason nothing bad has happened so far, is because Nico and I are here on our own prophecy."

Silence.

"Hera filled us in," Lauren continued. "It, it has to do with our... relationship."

"What?!" Coach started to choke on the linoleum wrapper he was eating. Served him right for shoving so much down his gut.

"How?" Piper asked. Thank goodness they had an Aphrodite kid here to help out with this.

"It has to do with an old prophecy. An Ancient Prophecy," LAuren's cheeks blushed red. "You know how Ouranos and Gaea's kids took over from them? ANd same thing with the gods and Titans? Weeeeeeelllllllllllllll," She stretched that out as Nico slouched more in his seat, "LHashglahgsahuhsbvkgqisdglvgalidglvkagv" She coughed into her hand.

"What?" Jason raised an eyebrow. This must really be embarrassing. Hazel sighed.

"The gods are scared that Lauren and Nico's kids will over power the gods. Yeesh," Hazel spat out with a lot of sarcasm. Jason suddenly went red as he made the connection.

"But why you two?" Piper asked. The topic definitely intrigued her.

"Because, we're both children of the Big Three," Nico finally spoke up. Everyone took a moment to soak that information up.

"And if your child only took your godly sides..." Piper's eyes went wide in realization. Lauren was blushing madly but she finished the thought.

"We could create a whole new generation."

Another awkward silence.

"So," Jason furrowed his brow, "The prophecy pretty much wants you two to make kids?"

Lauren blanched and Nico turned redder than a beat. "What! No no no no no!" They shrilled in unison.

"It is a prophecy of what will inevitably happen. It's not necisarily about Nico and I. The gods just are afraid that it could be about us," Lauren clarified.

"And as a result, they don't want Lauren and Nico together," Hazel whispered. But Jason picked up on it.

"What was that?" His voice silenced the room. Lauren had a sad look on her face, and Nico had a look on his face that called his sister a traitor. Hazel looked at the ground, but repeated what she had said.

"They don't want Lauren and Nico together. Ever."

Jason felt Piper squeeze his hand. The message was conveyed. What about us? WHat about everyone? He squeezed her hand back.

"But that is not an option," Lauren's voice was dangerously low. They'd have to tread on fine ground. Lauren had pretty bad anger issues. They had all just seen it less than an hour ago. Nico was scary when he was mad. Jason had heard enough stories about the kid back at camp. They both could quell eachothers anger. But what would happen if they were both angry at the same time, at the same people? Jason shivered at the thought.

"I don't care what Hera says, we'll find a way around it. Not being together, isn't an option though. We've both discovered that," Nico spoke up. Lauren shot Nico a grateful look. He returned it.

"Don't you two realize what you're risking though?" Hedge asked. THey both sighed.

"All love comes at a cost. You guys have learned that the hard way. But you should never give up on it," Piper surprisingly stood up for them. They all smiled. "I think that you too should be together, and I'm going to support you guys no matter what," She shakily announced. Jason couldn't be a more proud boyfriend.

"Me too. Just promise me that I get to babysit at some point," He threw in jokingly. Everyone laughed.

"Us too," Leo spoke for Frank and himself. "Let uncle Leo show 'em how it's done," He winked. Hedge nodded his approval.

"As long as I get to blow stuff up, I'm good."

Everyone turned to Hazel expectantly. "What do you want me to say?" Her voice was quiet.

"We just want to know your opinion Hazel?" Nico's voice was low. Hazel sighed.

"I think... that you two shouldn't be together if it risks that much. I'm truly sorry. But think of the consequences. You guys can make your own decisions. But I'm afraid that I won't be here when you do," Hazel left the shocked room. Frank stood up a bit after she left.

"Let me talk to her."

No one objected.

"Maybe we should all get some sleep," Leo suggested, looking at the digital display of a clock which read midnight. "We're five miles off the coast line of the tip of Italy. I'll program the ship to go there, so we don't have to sleep over the open ocean. I wouldn't be surprised if that Drakon had been following us for a while. It had been too long without a good monster attack to be true. Probably had been one of Keto's."

SLowly they all left the dining room. Leo and his weird little table whizzed down to the engine room. Hedge walked to his room, shouting something abouth flying baseball bats. Piper and Lauren walked out talking in hushed whispers.

Nico went to stand up.

"When did you propose?"

Nico stiffened like a piece of wood. He turned around to face Jason.

"W'what are you talking about?"

Jason rolled his eyes good humouredly. "If you were going to keep your engagement a secret, maybe you two shouldn't where your rings in public."

Nico looked at the ground. "We aren't necesarily engaged. It's more like... a promise."

"Whatever floats your boat cuz."

"Ugh, can you please stop calling me that?" He rolled his eyes. Jason laughed.

"Nope," He popped the 'p'. "What do you think that Percy's going to say?"

That caused Nico to pause. He evaluated his answer before answering. "I honestly don't know. I've known Percy for a long time, Jason." The boy sighed and flopped back down into his chair. "I trust Percy with my life. Sure we have out moments where we usually, literally, try to kill eachother, but we both trust eachother. I know that he's going to be mad at me. But I also know that other than Annabeth, Lauren is the most important person in his life. He always makes sure that she's put first. I'm just hoping that he'll see that we really love eachother, and will be happy for us," The kid shrugged.

"That's alot to put your faith on," Jason whistled. Nico shrugged again.

"I've betted on worst odds."

"Well, since Percy isn't here, I guess I'll take over 'the talk.'"

"The talk?" Nico scrunched his face up nervously. Jason nodded. Then he laughed. "I'm JKing you. I'll save that bad boy for Percy. But can I just say how weird it is for two of my cousin's to be, this close?"

Nico laughed. "I try not to think about it."

"Whatevs dude." Jason stood up. "Get some rest, I'll see you in the morning. Oh, and I'm really glad that you didn't die today," He admitted. Nico smiled.

"Me too. See ya later cuz," He winked. Jason laughed. His last image as he walked out of the room, was Nico sitting in his chair, staring at a picture of the cabins at Camp Halfblood. Jason was wondering if Nico was thinkg the same thing he was.

What cabin, would their kids be at?

**Soooooooooooooooo, Thank You for reading! Hope y'all liked that chapter, explains things a little more I hope. I got some questions, so I'd just like to clarify. Lauren is Percy's twin, so she is almost seventeen. If you've read this far, and don't know who she is yet, then I suggest you stop reading because I don't know how to make it any clearer. Also, in my fic Nico is her and Percy's age. NOT thirteen like how hw is in the actual series.**

**Different note: Our library already has HoH on order! And guess who's number one... ME! I'm sooooooooooooooooo excited! THere are already fifty holds on it! Crazy! **

**Oh, and I can't update that freguently, but if you want something to read, may I suggest Blondie B. Happy's HoH fanfic? IT"S AMAZING! Or maybe one of my other fics? Anyways, have a good day! Please read and review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! So here's a shortie. I'm actually going to wrap this one up soon. But don't worry. It's because I had another PJO idea, but it included Lauren, so I'm going to make it the sequel. Not to spill too much on it, but pretty much it will be four years after this one. If you want to know more, just PM me. I'm thinking maybe about three or four more chapters for this one. Enjoy ;)**

**Ni****co**

Nico woke up to a bell.

It resonated through his skull, forcing his eyes open to the day light coming through the window. He was laying on his back, only in his jeans and sock feet. Lauren was curled up at his side, burying her face into his chest to drown out the noise. He forgot that he had shadow traveled to her cabin last night.

He had layed in his own bed for quite a while the previous night, unable to fall asleep. His close brush with death had really bothered him. He had visited his father that way many times before. Yet the time he actually needed to die, he was blocked. He couldn't explain it, but an invisible force literally kept him out. It was weird.

They both finally stumbled out of bed as the bell went off again. He rubbed his eyes, and watched in amusement as Lauren slid his black shirt on, over top of her white tank top. It was so long on her that you could only see the tips of her Jean shorts. He grabbed his sword, not bothering to put his shoes on as he followed her out to the hall. She was still asleep as she pulled out her own blade. She yawned, her hair unruly and tangled like a mop of seaweed.

They ran down the hallway, Hedge behind them, Piper in front. Lauren finally woke up completely and turned to Nico in confusion.

"Where's your shirt? Not that I'm complaining," She muttered the last part. Nico smiled, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You stole it," He whispered into her ear. She looked down and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry."

He laughed. "No problem. Besides, you look cute in it.". She blushed even darker as they made their way above deck, to where Leo sat on his hunches, ringing an old brass bell. Hazel was already there, trying to look as intimidating as possible with her injury. Frank and Jason came in soon afterwards. No one noticed the extra bodies on deck.

"What is it Leo?" Hedge screeched, drawing his baseball bat menacingly. That was when Nico picked up the spiky black locks, and silver camo jacket.

"Thalia?"

"S'up Nico? I heard there was a pack of uncontrollable demigods on the loose out here," His cousin let out a laugh as she hugged him. He hugged her back. It was kind of always awkward between the two, but they did look out for eachother.

"Thals!" Lauren smiled, recieving a hug as well.

"Oh Lauren, I'm sorry about Percy," Thalia sent her condolences. Lauren shrugged, although the mention of her lost twin brought sadness to her eyes.

"He'll be fine. Besides, Annabeth is there, so I'm not too worried," She joked. It was true. Annabeth always was there for Percy in tough situations, and they both were still here to this day.

"Well, if it isn't my little bro! What's up Jason?" She squashed her brother in a hug. Jason grimaced, but a smile broke across his features.

"Besides saving the world and a stupid statue," He shrugged, "Nothing much." Thalia smiled.

"Ok, let's not forget about the main attraction here," A voice joked from over where Leo sat. The first thing that Nico was able to make out was a hairy bottom, and a green rasta cap.

"Grover!" Lauren shrieked, crushing him in a hug that made Nico wince just by watching. "I haven't seen you since the battle in NY last summer."

"Well, technically I came and saw you when you were in a coma, but I guess that doesn't really count," He bleated.

"Why are you wearing this?" Lauren smiled and flicked Grover's hat. His horns showed on either side of his head, so it no longer really served a purpose.

"Old times sake," Grover laughed. "Speaking of which, do you guys have any enchiladas?"

"You can think of your stomach later, goat boy," Thalia rolled her eyes. Grover turned to Nico. He had a friendly, yet wary expression on his face. Nico couldn't blame him. They did have a history.

"How's being Lord of the Wild?" Nico shook the satyr's hand. He shrugged nonchalantly, but Nico could see the glimmer in his eye.

"S'okay I guess. It takes up all my time though. I can't really spend it with my friends," He shot Lauren an apologetic look, "Kind of miss out on the fun of being a keeper."

"Well, at least you're not being eaten alive by blind cyclops now," Lauren joked. Thalia and Nico laughed with her, but the others chorused a confused 'What?'

"What are you guys doing here?" Hedge finally piped up. Then he turned to Grover and bowed. "Not that it isn't a privledge, My Lord."

Grover waved his hand. "None of that here. Please. I'm amoung old friends," He gestured to Nico, Thalia and Lauren.

"Did coach actually act respectively? Because of that teen faun?" Hazel whispered to Jason, but a little too loudly. Coach stood up red.

"He is not a teenaged faun! He's 33! What is a faun anyways? He's Grover Underwood. Satyr, and Lord of the Wild. Designated by Pan himself!" Coach bellowed, causing the unsuspecting demigods to back away.

"S'okay Hedge. I like being who I used to be sometimes. You were the Satyr who wrote me during the battle last year, about the trees in Canada, weren't you?"

"You remember me? I'm honored!" Hedge replied. Grover just laughed.

"So, now that we know Mister Underwood, who are you exactly?" Hazel turned to Thalia. She stepped forward. His cousin always had made a big entrance.

"I'm Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus and lieutenant to Lady Artemis herself."

"And my big sister," Jason grinned, throwing his arm around Thalia's shoulder. Thalia laughed.

"Well, I think that you're actually older than me now," She smiled. "Although I should be somewhere in my twenties now."

"What?" Frank seemed to take in the girl for the first time.

"I was turned into a tree when I was twelve for six years, but trees age slower than humans. Then I became immortal as a Hunter a week before my fifteenth birthday after our battle against Atlas a few years back," She said it all like it was normal. Hazel and Frank gaped at her. Jason looked thoughtful.

"Atlas? He resides on Mt. Othrys. That's our territory."

"Crazy how we've never met before, eh?" Thalia grinned at her stupefied brother.

"Ok, but you guys still have left us hanging. What are you doing here?" Piper spoke up. Thalia flicked her hand.

"No need for charmspeak," Piper blushed a bit, "I'm tracking a monster personally for Lady Artemis. Apparently Grover here is looking for it too. We both ended up this way, and last night we saw the water fireworks. We figured that either the Italien government was playing explosive submarine, or it was this gal over here," Thalia threw a crooked smile to Lauren, who returned it.

"We got attacked by a monster last night," Leo piped up. Thalia gave him a cold look, before gesturing for him to continue. "It was one of those big dragon thingies."

"A drakon?" Grover shuddered, as well as Thalia. They both had been at the battle last year when the Drakon had taken Silena's life. Nico heard Grover mutter, "She really was a hero."

"Not a normal Drakon," Lauren shook her head. "It was... weird."

"ANything else new?"

"Lauren and Nico are engaged," LEo piped up.

"Leo!" Nico and Lauren both chorused at the same time Grover and Thalia shouted, "WHAT?!"

"We aren't engaged!" Nico rolled his eyes in frustration. Him and Lauren both had red tinted cheeks. Nico watched Lauren give Leo a death glare, and he shirked away. Nico couldn't help but smirk. That was his girl. THalia looked over at the couple, and Nico felt selfconscious. He always did when she stared at him. Her eyes had miy thunderstorms in them for crying outloud! The first time that he had ever played capture the flag at camp, he watched her almost kill Percy.

"What's this?" THalia picked up Lauren's hand, staring at the ring.

"It's our promise," Lauren snatched her hand back, sheathing her sword. Nico did the same with his. Thalia shrugged.

"That's weird. I've known you since we were eleven!" Grover laughed good naturedly. "But if you're happy with this scum," He gestured good naturedly to Nico, "Then I'm happy for you."

"I agree with Gorver. It's totally weird to see my two cousins engaged- call it waht you want, but that's what it is- but I'm all for you guys being happy. About time too. You guys almost drove me as crazy as Percy and Annabeth did, always making googoo eyes, and never making a move," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"We didn't make googoo eyes!" Nico blushed. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, and Annabeth and Percy weren't majorily flirting with eachother since they were twelve," Grover laughed. The couple just shrugged it off with a smile.

"Anyways, back to the Drakon," Jason changed the subject, "It definitely wasn't your normal one."

"Interesting. With Gaea awakening, the monsters that are coming back are even worst than when Kronos stirred," Grover pointed out.

"So you're telling me that there is something like Bessie out there possibly, but on a much grander scale?" Lauren sighed. Thalia laughed and shook her head.

"Luckily, no. There's only one Ophiotaurus. But while we're on that subject, you haven't made any water friends that we should know about," THalia turned serious and stared at Lauren. She just laughed.

"Not yet, anyways. And besides, that was Percy."

"Yup. Good old Seaweed Brain, as Annabeth would say," Grover sighed, and everyone was quiet as the old foursome reflected back on their memories. Lauren hugged Nico's side, and he squeeeezed her shoulder.

"What are you tracking this time?" Lauren finally asked Thalia. Thalia sighed.

"I'd guess that what fought you was some hybrid of a Ketos. What I'm tracking is Laelaps. It ties together because Grover is after the Teumessian Fox."

"Teu what?" Leo wrinkled his nose. But Piper spoke up.

"The dog who is always destined to catch his prey, and the fox that can never be caught?" She crinkled her dainty nose. "I thought that they got turned into stars."

"They were. But with Gaea rising, they're back. And still out for eachother. Aretemis feels that if we can get Laelaps, he will be able to retrieve one of her sacred relics, which could help us in fighting this war."

"And the fox is who I' m interested in, because he's so old that he might know a thing or two that we need to know," Grover interjected.

"Woah, woah, woah. Back up. These animals were stars?" Frank blinked. Everyone nodded. "Ok. Just checking to make sure I didn't hear anything."

"You guys headed for the Doors of Death?" Thalia returned her calculating look to Nico. HE nodded. Thalia sighed. "Figures. But you'll have to be careful. My falcons said that the giants have been gathering there. It's a dangerous place."

"Can't be worst than what we've been through," Nico muttered, and Thalia laughed.

"You got that right. You're not that far. You guys are at the tip of Italy right now," She pointed to the hills in the distance. Then she moved her arm east. It was water in that direction. "You should be in Greece in no time."

"Where the parthenon is," Lauren sighed. Thalia nodded grimly.

"Funny how we always see her biggest dreams, when she's not with us."

"You got that, DAM right."

They broke into laughter, Thalia, Lauren, and Grover. Must have been an inside joke.

"Well," Jason threw his arm over his sister's shoulder, "You guys are just in time for breakfast."

For the first time in a while, no one thought of their problems. Nico smiled at how his girlfriend's face lit up as she recounted old tales with Grover. Jason and Piper laughed silently to themselves, and Thalia was ignoring Leo's lame flirting attempts. Even Hazel seemed to have gotten over their little dispute, and was holding Frank's hand under the table.

"-And then he said-"

"All three of you? Big Bathtub!" Grover broke in bleating. Nico smiled. He could just picture Charon saying something like that.

"Good times," Lauren sighed in content, leaning into Nico's chest. Grover nodded his agreement. Everyone agreed.

"Good times," Nico whispered into Lauren's hair. She smiled at the contact, making Nico smile.

They caught up with eachother for the rest of the ride. Nico had to admit, it was good to see his cousin again. By the evening, they had reached Greece.

"So where exactly are the Doors of Death again?" Leo asked as he steered the ship over land. All eyes turned to Nico.

"Epirus. Close to here."

"About time," Jason grumbled. "Let's go get our friends."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hazel**

Hazel could feel the different tunnels beneath them.

Some were manmade, and she assumes they were mines. Others had to be created by burrowing monsters. Some appeared to be old lava tubes. Her senses were on overdrive. She was looking for that one spot. The one spot where the hole kept going to Tartarus.

"Almost there," Her brother muttered.. Hazel walked up to him. Lauren was up front with Thalia and that weird faun, so Hazel could finally have some alone time with him.

"Hey," She sighed. Nico turned to her, and raised a dark eyebrow. Even though he was three years older than her, they were close to the same height. And he had rather boyish features, so they could have been the same age. Definitely not siblings though. Their looks varied alot on that. She wondered what Hades looked like. She had seen her father Pluto once, but she figured that they must have looked quite different to produce such different children.

"I really don't feel like a lecture on my current relationship," Nico sighed. Hazel bit her cheek. She grabbed her brother's hand.

"Look, Nico. I wasn't... I'm not saying that you and LAuren aren't perfect for eachother. I've seen the way you two look at eachother. I don't need Piper to confirm that that's real love. I just don't know if it's so wise to defy the gods. Hera was so adament. I'd hate to think of what she might do to you guys."

Nico sighed and gave his sister an awkward side hug. Hazel squirmed a bit, and her brother laughed. "I know Hazel. But I really love Lauren, and I'm not going to let some goddess jepordize that."

Hazel sighed, but gave her brother a small smile. She had to admit, it was nice to know that there really was such true love in the world. Between her brother and Lauren, and Percy and Annabeth, she could only hope that she and Frank could achieve that kind of trust one day.

Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She froze, her muscles paralyzed. Everyone stopped to look at her. Nico had the same expression on his face.

"It's here," She muttered.

The entire way, they hadn't ran into any monsters, which was really bad for them. It meant that there was no doubt an army down there, waiting for them.

"So... what now?" Jason stared at the ground. Hazel did too, wondering what would happen. Was there a magic door? Did they have to say a really stupid password like open sesame? Would they-

The floordropped out from beneath them.

A terrified scream made it's way from Hazel's throat as the Earth engulfed them. Everyone screamed as they were suddenly halted mid air. Hazel pried her eyes open slowly.

They were all in a cavern. All of them were hanging by some sort of vine thingies. Below them in the back corner appeared to be a black stone, but Hazel could tell the difference. It was the Doors of Death. Oh yeah, and below them were monsters.

Plenty of monsters.

She couldn't see any giants, but there were a lot of monsters staring up at them and hissing. Some seemed to be guarding one corner. Hazel aquinted her eyes in the dim lighting, to make out two figures. Her heart swelled with joy.

Percy and Annabeth.

They looked beat up, and terrified, but they were alive.

_They were alive._

"Percy!" Lauren screamed. The disgruntled figure looked up. For a second, the entire world stopped. Hazel couldn't help but smile in relief.

"Lauren!" Percy screamed back, vying for attention over the monster howls. "Guys! You came!"

"You made it!" Jason screamed back. Everyone was smiling. It might havce been a grim situation, but sudden;y everything looked better.

"Oh my gods!" Thalia belted, "Are you guys ok?"

Even from this distance, Hazel could see Percy's smirk. Boy, did she miss that smirk.

"Well, other than being through hell, I think we're fine," He smiled sadistically at his own joke. Suddenly there were two bangs, and the entire room fell silent. Hazel looked over to where the sound had come from, and saw a sight that would haunt her nightmares.

An old lady was sitting in the corner on a plain wood stool. She was wearing earthen coloured clothes, and she looked like she was made of dirt.

"Toilet face," Leo snorted. Hazel's brow wrinkled in confusion, but she didn't say anything. Her eyes were focused on Gaea. At least her eyes weren't open yet.

"Heroes," Gaea crooned softly. The monsters stared at her reverentially. "How pleaseurable for you to join us."

"You won't be saying that once we destroy you!" Grover bleated. Gaea simply smiled.

"My second batch of children are already in position around the world to take over. The last thing we need is almost here. My full awakening. And these two," She gestured to Percy and Annabeth, "Shall be the ones who do it. Their blood shall water my seeds, and then, and only then, may I grow."

"You're delusional," Percy spat weakly. You didn't have to have perfect vision to see that they were both shaking with exhaustion.

"Step aside," GAea hissed, and the monsters obediently cleared a path for her. She walked up to them slowly. Painfully slowly. "Perseus Jackson," She hissed, a blade in her hands glinting off the fire light. When did she get a knife? "Your blood shall be first."

Hazel watched in horror as Gaea held the knife tip up to Percy's throat. Annabeth was screaming hoarsly, but Percy was trying to be dignified, and didn't even flinch.

As soon as the blade started to cut the skin, Lauren exploded.

Literally exploded.

Before hand, Nico had given Hazel and Frank a run down on Lauren. She and Percy were both children of the sea god, but Percy was better at using 'big' displays. He could create a hurricane. He could blow up a volcano. When he used his powers, they weren't really in control. They were just really damaging. Lauren on the other hand, couldn't do that. But she could create smaller things, right down to the finest detial. Apparently she had even made a full grange piano once, and it would have been really cool, had she not passed out halfway through playing a sonatina.

But Lauren was not the explosive one. Which is why Hazel had no doubt, that they must have slipped purposly, so that Percy could explode.

The water broke through everyones chains, and pushed Gaea scarily close to the Doors of Death. The demigods dropped to the floor, and immediatly started hacking at monsters. Hazel pulled out her spatha, and jabbed a telkhine. It exploded into dust.

The battle blurred in her mind. She was faintly aware of Frank turning back into Hannibal, and sitting on some dracnae. She watched Leo throw a... screwdriver? Jason and Tahlia were frying monsters left and right, and Grover and Hedge were going kung fu like on some empousa. Piper and Lauren were working with some skeletons that Nico had conjured up, and were fighting some hell hounds. Percy was doing his best to defend himself and Annabeth in the corner, Riptide out.

She wasn't sure how long it took, but after what seemed like forever, Thalia stabbed the last monster, and it disintegrated back into Tartarus. Everyone stopped in the eery silence, and turned to a smiling Gaea.

"Well done heroes, but alas, it's too late. I awake."

For the first time in millenia, Gaea's eyes opened. Hazel saw them, and screamed in terror. They were brown, like dirt, but they drilled images into her mind of what the world was like before the gods. Before the titans.

It was terrifying. Everyone was stupefied by her eyes, except for Jason and Thalia.

Both let out a scary battle cry, as they charged at Gaea. Hazel watched in horror as they conjured up a storm around her. Every thing was moving so fast. She could pick out flashes of colour, but no more. And occasionally Gaea's eyes.

GAea let out a scream as the children of the sky god intesified their efforts. Everyone backed away slowly, covering their faces with their arms. HAzel caught one last glance of Gaea's brown orbs, before the light exploded, and everything went still.

When she opened her eyes again, the cavern was empty, save for them, with a single flower growing where Gaea once stood. And there was also the twelve Olympians, standing around it.

"Congratualtions children. You have defeated Gaea," Hera smiled at them politely like it was some simple task that they had done for brownie points or something.

Demeter walked up to the flower. "I suggest this flower isn't touched until I can fully examine it."

Ha. Yeah. Like we were totally thinking of picking that flower.

"What, what happened?" Jason looked up. Hazel could see the tired lines in his forehead.

"You and Thalia's storm re-spread her essence. Hopefully thin enough that she won't ever be able to come back," Their father smiled proudly at them. Then he turned to everyone. "I have an... apology to make. We could no have defeated this threat without you. Thank you. We have also managed to settle the disputes between the two camps, Thanks to that statue."

Everyone was dazed as they all hugged eachother and Percy and Annabeth. Hazel could have sworn that when Percy and Lauren hugged, a sea breeze blew through the cavern.

"Good to see that you're still alive," She whispered to him when she finally got to hug him. He smiled tiredly back. Suddenly, Hera cleared her throat.

"Unfortunately, we still have some buisness to attend to." She didn't look sorry at all. But before anyone could protest, she snapped her fingers.

Hazel woke up on a patio of a large blue farm house. She opened her eyes slowly, the last few minutes a blur in her mind. Everyone was there, except for Percy and Lauren. Percy and Lauren... her thoughts were muddled.

A centaur was looking at all of them with a warm smile, but sadness in his eyes.

"Annabeth, my dear. You're back." The centaur gave Annabeth a hug. She looked confused.

"Chiron. I... what happened?"

The centaur replied, "The Romans declared peace as did we when the statue appeared. Gaea is finally gone. You did well. But, I'm sorry for your loss."

Annabeth looked confused for a moment, before overwhelming sadness ran through her eyes. Hazel was trying to grasp why. The thoughts... they were just out of reach. Then Nico suddenly sobbed.

"My dad put them in Elysium. They deserve the Islands of The Blessed. Maybe they will achieve that one day."

Everyone nodded in sadness, just as the memories formed solidly in Hazel's mind.

Percy and Lauren were dead. The monsters had killed them in the final battle.

A silent tear rolled down Hazel's cheek.

**OK, so this chapter might be a little confusing. The next one is the last one, and it will be explained more them. Pretty much, They all think that Lauren and Percy died - EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T - due to the mist. As to why and who's controlling it... you will find out in the last chapter :-) But everyone thinks that their dead now, just to be clear. Even Chiron. Please Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Percy**

Percy watched his friends blink out. Then he realized that he was no longer at the House of Hades anymore. He wasn't even in Greece. Lauren and he were now standing in the throne room at Mt. Olympus. The gods all sat in their respective seats.

"What's this about?" Lauren ventured, glaring at Hera. Her undertone suggested that she knew perfectly what it was about. But at the moment, he didn't really care. He and Annabeth had made it. He was still in shock at seeing everyone again and defeating Gaea. He was glad that his twin was finally with him. When they were gone, it had felt as though a part of him was inactive. Not missing, just... not working. It was just the connection that twins had, he guessed.

Lauren grabbed his hand, and he unvoluntarily flinched. He was still jumpy from his stay in Tartarus. Tartarus...

He pushed the thought away form his mind, before the horrible images could flood his brain again. He squeezed Lauren's hand in reassurance.

"I warned you," Hera's cold voice rang out from the chamber. Percy had no idea what she was talking about, but he normally didn't. Lauren on the other hand blanched. "You have forced our hand. It was a unanimous decision."

"Unanimous? What did you do, bribe everybody?" Lauren sobbed. Percy squeezed Lauren's hand tighter in comfort, although he had no idea what he was comforting her for.

Hera's eyes narrowed. But their father spoke up. It had been a while since Percy had last seen his father.

"Lauren. Percy. We didn't plan on this. It's not only for our safety, but for your own too."

"What are we talking about?" Percy asked, feeling like his usual competent self. Well, at least things were getting back to normal.

Zeus sighed, but Hera answered the question. "You and Lauren will not be permitted to return to Camp-Halfblood."

For a second he just stood there dumbly, before it clicked in his brain. "What?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "She means that you will never be able to see Annabeth and Nico again. Ever."

Percy felt his chest constrict and his throat go dry. He muttered the only thing he could think of. "Why?"

Lauren was trembling, but Percy couldn't tell if it was from with held sobs, of anger. Probably the latter, knowing his sister. "It's because their afraid."

The gods moved to interject, but Lauren was screaming now.

"You're afraid of change! You're afraid of upsurpment! You're afraid of us!"

Percy couldn't understand half of what she was saying, but the gods didn't object, which was a bad thing. If they didn't object to being yelled at and accused, it usually meant that they were guilty.

"Lauren, you must look at things from our persepective. If-"

Lauren cut their father off. "Why don't you look at it from our perspective! We've saved your butts so many times, and all you are is ungrateful. You won't even let us love who we want!"

"Enough," Hera's voice was venemously cold. "We've given you a choice. Currently, everyone thinks that you two died in the last battle, thanks to the mist. Either you two disappear, or I will personally incinerate not just Nico and Annabeth, but your friends. Your camp. Maybe even both camps to get the point across."

Percy was in shock. He could never see Annabeth again? That was the only thing he could get through. He immediatley knew what they would do though. It was his fatal flaw. And Lauren loved Nico much too much to ever be the reason he died. Percy knew that from their slips.

Lauren was sobbing. A couple of the gods looked unhappy too. Their father, Hades, Apollo, Aphrodite (No surprise there) and surprisingly enough, Athena. Percy assumed it was just because she didn't like the fact that her perfect daughter's life balanced on two children of her rival god.

Hera seemed to have read their minds. "You will never be able to return to camp. Or talk to any of your old friends or family. That includes your mother. According to them, your all dead. If either of you do try to make contact, you can say bye bye to everyone. You must never, NEVER, reveal your real identities, even to mortals. The mist can only do so much. Which is why it has been agreed that this must also happen."

Percy suddenly felt an agonizing pain slice down the side of his face. Laure must have felt it too, as both of them went tumbling to the ground, screeching in pain. Both clutched the right side of their face.

Suddenly, the pain stopped as fast as it had started. Percy caught his breath, before looking at his sister. He reeled back in horror. A cut, which looked as though it had been freshly treated, was sliced down the right side of her face. It was swollen and puffy, starting from just above her eyebrow, slicing clean through the center of her eye, and down just past her lips. The used to be green eye wasalready being blocked out by scar tissue. Percy could feel the same scar on his own face.

"What..." He probbed the mutilated flesh carefully, wincing when he got to a sore spot. Apollo looked sad.

"I'm sorry," He said, "I have too. You were to widely known. Now you won't be recognized."

Both were too numb to say anything. Hesphateus threw them a small disk. They flew into their still in tack eye, both of them screaming and scratching at it. When Lauren pulled her hand away, he saw that her iris was brown. His must have been too.

Between the scar tissue that was bound to cover the one eye, and the brown contact on the other, they no longer looked like children of Poseidon. Hera gave a curt nod of approval. She tossed Lauren what looked like a small make up case. It was a simple green pouch, with a zipper.

"It can only be opened by you or Percy. For some of your... momentos."

Percy undid his necklace, and dropped it into the pouch, a dead sense filling him as he let go. Lauren did the same. They both emptied their jean pockets into the pouch. Both of them carried pictures of their friends every where they went. Then Percy noticed Lauren slip a ring off her finger and into the pouch before zipping it and putting it in her back pocket. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"It's like Percy's sword, in that it will always return to your pocket," Poseidon said sadly. Well, it was nice to know that your dad at least was a bit upset over your banishment and fake-death. "I really am sorry you two. Out of every hero, you guys deserved the happy ending."

They both nodded numbly again. Hera just clapped, and dare he say it, looked even happy. He also made a mental note never to make a sacrifice to Hera ever again.

"Remeber my warning," She gave both of them a sick smile, before the world went black.

All Percy could think of were two things. He'd never get to see Annabeth again, after everything they had gone through.

And they could never return to their old lives.

**Woohoo! It's finished! Sorry it was a rushed ending, but I wanted to start the sequel, because it's going to be a lot better than this. I'll post an update when it's up. I'll try and put it up soon. It's called Forgotten Promises and Hidden Lies. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

The sequel is out! It's called Forgotten Promises and Hidden Lies. Please check it out, and thank you to everyone!


End file.
